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NUFFIELD HOSTEL FOR THE DEAF AND BLIND, JAFFNA, SRI LANKA.

SHIVA Charity Project Manager, Kumar Fernando, and our Sri Lankan builders, have embarked on a large building project in Jaffna. The Nuffield Hostel for The Deaf and Blind is a complex of buildings established many years ago. It is in a very poor state of repair. With funding from TVF (True Volunteer Foundation), SHIVA Charity will rebuild and renovate these buildings over the next nine months.

There are about two hundred disadvantaged children staying at the hostel, and being educated in the school buildings. We hope that some time in the future we can help these children through sponsorship and donations, but in the meantime we will concentrate on getting the buildings finished and improving the facilities.

Image left, showing Jaffna in the North of the island. This area was ravaged by the recent war. The onset of peace gives well established charities like SHIVA the opportunity to help make things better.

The two photos (right) show the first stages of renovation. The Blind Boys' Hostel needed a new heat reflective ceiling, new floor and toilets, and many other repairs, modifications, and decorations.

The SHIVA Charity FAST Appeal was set up more than a year ago, with the intention of making a resources' training "circuit" of ONE HUNDRED schools. This month the SHIVA Charity teacher trainers went to the 50th school, and so we are half way towards our ultimate goal. Once the circuit is finally established the trainers will be in a continuous process of training, visiting and teaching in each school, and taking resources with them. This will help hundreds of teachers to see the merits of a more child-centred and creative approach to lessons, and give many thousands of children the opportunity to enjoy using resources. We believe that this is the most efficient way to improve the quality of education in Nepal. Please visit our FAST Appeal web page at www.shivacharity.com/appeal.html

April 2012: The long awaited Teachers'Resources Centre was set up in Banepa to cater for as many schools in the area as possible. Teachers are able to use the centre to obtain materials for teaching creative Maths, Craft, English and Science lessons. A programme of training is underway, and the Centre is already in great demand.

A new Teachers' Resources Training Centre is to be buillt in Pokhara, Nepal, above the Project Manager's (Bikram) house. This is an ideal position, and it provides security and safety for any resources. We are grateful to the executors of Catherione Searle's estate for choosing to help SHIVA Charity with this project.

June 2012: The printing of the first Resources booklet for the Nursery Schools in Ampara, and the training at the Centre in Seeduwa, was a great success. We will follow this up soon with Nursery Booklet 2. Using "lesson ideas" booklets has already been well established in Nepal as a method of ensuring creative ideas are able to be logged, compiled, and passed on from teacher to teacher.

A new school replaces the rented buildings of Tarapunja School. The whole community are delighted that they have a real school at last that they can call their own. The building plan is for four class rooms in an "L" shape, with room to build an upper floor if necessary. The school building was funded by Richard Kingston, who also attended the opening ceremony.

The Resources Training in Pokhara is at last underway, thanks to funding from the building from Catherine Searle's estate and resources funding from Guy Parr. We are now inviting teachers from all over the Pokhara and Leknath district of Nepal to visit the Centre to learn how to use creative resources. We hope it will be as successful as our Centre in Banepa!

The Aandhimul Project was founded in 2008 by Lee Allan (UK) and Mon Bahadur Bhujel (Nepal). The village of Aandhimul, in central Nepal, is being improved by their efforts and by other volunteers who have since joined them. One such volunteer (Jolana Whyte) invited three of our SHIVA Charity workers (Devraj, Bijendra and Pujan) to visit the village and help with some teaching and teacher training.