My colleague Dev snapped the above image yesterday as we travelled to visit our Community Learning Centre (CLC) beside the Kamala River in south Nepal. It so happens that it illustrates three strands of our work coming together in a single scene:

• Education:   The CLC in the background provides extra tuition and homework support to 122 children, most of them girls, who attend in three groups before and after the school day. Their parents are largely illiterate, so without this additional help many of the children would struggle to keep pace with lessons at the three local schools they attend, greatly increasing the risk of dropping out.

• Sustainability:   Using previous Big Give funds, we excavated the lake in the foreground as part of our livelihood programme. It enables parents of CLC pupils to cultivate water lilies for their edible seeds, commonly known as fox nuts or makhana. This is a high-value crop that can generate income while helping to meet the modest long-term operating costs of the centre.

• Nature:   Standing at the water’s edge is a Blue Bull (Nilgai), Asia’s largest antelope and a species that has already been hunted to extinction in neighbouring Bangladesh. Alongside their academic studies, CLC pupils receive lessons on wildlife and environmental conservation which are subjects not taught in local schools. We are already seeing the impact, with children encouraging their families to stop hunting wildlife, particularly the trapping of migratory birds.

A beacon of hope for low-caste children in a remote – but stunning – setting.

The Blue Bull

Our Big Give campaign launched on Thursday and has already made a great start, with £6,570 raised towards our £64,520 target. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to support the appeal, you can help us take another step towards our goal by clicking the donation button below.

Thank you very much for your continued support.

Enjoying the tranquility between CLC lessons