First of all, I would like to thank all my foreign and Nepali friends for their kind concern and interest in the Pragya Foundation.The Pragya Foundation is aiming to help the underprivileged children of our country realize their potential.
To achieve this objective, the Pragya Foundation is implementing an educational program, children’s home care program and healthcare program. I sincerely would like to appeal to anyone interested in volunteering and helping the children of Nepal.
The
Pragya Foundation is proof of the hard work and determination
of its founder & Chairman /director, Mr. R.B. Patel.
Like many children in Nepal, Mr. Patel grew up on the streets,
suffering from the desperation of extreme poverty and a lack
of access to education. By the age of thirteen – thankful
for his healthy brain – Mr. Patel was able to earn money
for food and continue his education by tutoring other children.
In fact, it was at this point in his early life that Mr. Patel
realized the deep satisfaction that comes from helping children
succeed in their quest for knowledge.
Once his childhood schooling was complete, Mr. Patel moved to
the capital, Kathmandu. He arrived with his passion to become
a teacher and sought out an opportunity to work at a private
school, while also studying at a university. His budget was
tight. Nevertheless, he persevered and worked his way up, eventually
becoming the director of the Pragya English School and now the
Founder & Chairman /Director of Pragya Foundation .
Most parents in Nepal have a very difficult decision to make.
Should they send their children to the government-funded schools
that lack quality education or should they send their children
to the private schools that they are too poor to pay for? Many
parents choose the latter option and, as the director of the
school, it was Mr. Patel’s job to enforce the high enrolment
fees that most families could not afford. After awhile Mr. Patel
could no longer tolerate this cruel duty and resigned.
Mr. Patel then decided to take a bold step and establish his
own school, the Pragya English School. It would be a school
with the high quality, but without the expensive fixed fees.
With the help of the kind people of the community and the students’
parents contributing whatever funds they could, Pragya English
School (also known as Patel Shinza Academy) was born in 1991.
At first, the school only taught primary level education, but
because of Mr. Patel’s persistence, the school now teaches
students through secondary level education. As is the problem
with most altruistic actions, however, adequate funding is an
ongoing concern facing the school. Tuition fees currently meet
just 10% of the school’s expenses. In order to fulfill
Mr. Patel’s noble dream, the development of an active
volunteer program and successful fundraising initiatives are
critical.
Many children at the Pragya English School have arrived in Kathmandu
with their parents looking for a better life. However, some
parents were not able to find work in Kathmandu and were therefore
forced to go back to their original homes. Mr. Patel then offered
them to accommodate them at the school so that they could continue
their education. Out of this situation grew the idea to create
what is now called the Pragya Children’s Home. In the
future the Children’s Home will also serve for abandoned
and orphaned children.
As the Pragya English School attracted a growing number of students,
it also become clear that some of them were lacking basic medical
care that their parents were not able to pay for. At the sight
of this regretfull situation, Mr. Patel decided to establish
a Health Care Unit at the Pragya English School, so that all
of the children could receive the most necessary medical assistance
and a regular health check up.
