Laharepipal

Laharepipal

I also managed to get two days at Laharepipal this week, I was meant to be going there two weeks ago, then a week after but due to visa issues and really low child numbers I couldn’t go.  Now Laharepipal is a really poor school they have nothing. There are no teaching resources - not even paper or pencils, the teachers are very rarely paid, there were no medical supplies at all but I’ve sorted that, about three quarters have uniforms but most are in a dire state and, also, the teachers often have to go around Tansen asking for money to feed the children – and I’m talking about just bread and tea. Now not all schools give children food but at least the children have breakfast or can bring some food with them. However, here though the families are so poor the children rarely ever get breakfast, most only eat once a day. So a bit of food in the day makes a lot of difference to their ability to learn. A lot of the children come late to school because they have to clean or act as servants in other people’s homes. This is mainly the reason why when I went I took three huge bags of oranges, some bananas, a load of tea and sugar, and 10 loaves of bread. The problem is here they don’t have any cooking facilities so they can’t make a huge pan of curry or something on the cheap. Furthermore, as they have to scrape the money together on a daily, well normally not every day, basis they can’t buy in bulk and get a discount. Fortunately, their twinned school, St Pauls primary, have sent them £830 which should keep them in food for a good while and get some children a uniform. I know that a uniform doesn’t seem that important but when you think that is will be the best clothes the children own, it makes sense.

 
I managed to get the twinning letters done though and I took the school a load of sports equipment which they went mental for. Additionally, I had to give them some money to tide them over for the week food-wise and for the exams they are taking next week, the school didn’t have any money to print the exam papers for the children. One more thing, the blackboards here are dismal, you can’t write on them, so I spent the afternoon with some of the teachers painting them. Hopefully, next visit I can actually use them.