We will have to stop accepting further sponsored children in the future. But first one point that is particularly important to us: we will of course not abandon any of the children who are currently in the project. We will continue to accompany and support them reliably until they finish Year 12!

This decision was not an easy one for us. However, out of responsibility towards the children and their families, we can no longer commit to new sponsorships. The sponsorship period covers up to twelve school years plus potentially three years of kindergarten. The school sponsorship project has been running successfully for 26 years now. During this time, we at Gecotec and also at NHEFoN have grown older together with the children. Unfortunately, there are currently no successors who could continue this labour-intensive project. The individual support of every single child and the systemic work with the families require many hours of voluntary work, both in Nepal and in Germany. We bear this responsibility consciously and would only like to continue it in a framework that is durably reliable.

What remains: impact and prospects

The project has been very successful throughout all its years. Thanks to your support, hundreds of children have been given much better prospects than would have been possible without funding. We are particularly pleased that many girls have seized their opportunity: they are now in employment and their income helps to secure their families’ livelihoods.

At the same time, we are observing a development that lets us pause for thought: with a higher level of education, many young people are choosing a professional future abroad. For individual families, this often means financial stability through remittances from abroad. For Nepal itself, however, valuable skilled workers are being lost, and these earnings hardly benefit the general public.

On a positive note, educational opportunities in Nepal have improved overall in the past 26 years – even though in many places, good education is still only accessible through expensive private schools.

Our path to the future

Together with our long-standing partner NHEFoN, we are continuing to responsibly implement clearly structured projects with a limited time frame. Exactly like we have been able to implement them over the past ten years thanks to dedicated project donors and in cooperation with DESWOS and NB&G.

These include:

• School buildings
• School sponsorship in Gope
• Clinic buildings
• Maternity wards
• Water supply projects

These projects will benefit many thousands of people in the long term. They strengthen entire regions and create structures that have a lasting impact.

We would be delighted if you would continue to support us in the future as well and perhaps become part of our school sponsorship programme in Gope. For children in mountainous regions in particular, a good school infrastructure means real facilitation and new opportunities.

It has been a great gift for us to see how several hundred children have been able to develop with your help.

A heartfelt thank you, Namaste,

Anne Peter,
Gecotec e.V.