Thanks to all who have helped make this possible…Krishna (our Nepali Guide and Friend), Convent Taiping Seventy six, AUG’s staff and Institution partners, Family and Friends.

Thank you all. Here are some photos of the ceremony.

Unveiling of the banner to officiate the ceremony start

Tin Wong  was invited as Chief Guest , honoured to be there. Let the ceremony begins

A big band comprising of horns, drums, flutes played customary music to welcome us

Everyone from Village Elders, Parents, Students, Children all join in the party.

Students anxiously waiting for the ceremony to start

Getting a bird’s eye view of the ceremony.

Love the colours and pomp to go with the occasion.

Extract from CP and Shirley :-

We are honoured to be invited to a once in a life time event. The official opening of the school at Dhading was made possible by the tenacity of Tin Wong and friends.

We became important “Ministers” that day, the villagers showered us with Music, performances and warm hospitality, a memory we will hold for a long time.

Once again…Dhanya baht Alice & Tin

CP posing a musing shot for Shirley

Don’t mess around with these tough ladies.. they do all the hard work

Nice shot of the village elders

Two of my biggest supporter for the day

A nice amusing shot for the album to reflect the happy occasion

Receiving the plaque with thanks and show of appreciation for the work done

Thank you from the principal

Giving a speech of thank you and feeling very honoured

Giving a speech in Nepali much to the laughter of the crowd

Many prizes to give out, best performing student in each year level, boys and girls equally clever

The Hindu Goddess of Wisdom,Saraswati (, Sarasvatī) Also the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts, and learning.

The young students put up some dancing show for our entertainment

We all enjoy it with much laughter and fun

Group photo with students

Group photo with the teachers

After the long and tedious task of negotiating with Nepal’s bureaucracy and going through the proper channel, we managed to come to an agreement for the project to go ahead. AUG teamed up with PA Nepal (Prisoner Assistance Nepal) to initiate rebuilding the school, 10 months on after the earthquake hit this region. Yes, it took us this long to come to an agreement but it’s better late than never, I suppose!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank to our man on the ground, Krishna, who has been most persistent, will lead and supervise the whole project on our behalf. As you can imagine, this task of rebuilding is enormous. Firstly he will negotiate for the land tenure, making sure that the school land is approved for rebuilding. Next, the land will need to be cleared of fallen debris from the earthquake. As Dhading village sits on a hill slope, this makes the task of clearing the land all the more difficult. But through all these problems and difficulties, Krishna has been patient and kept us all in the loop on the progress.

Stage#3 – Building the Structural Foundation

Iron trestles and cement being transported by lorries to the nearest point reachable by motor vehicles. From this point, manpower was required to carry them to the village.

Iron and steel welded together forming the support structure for the rooftop, and iron poles carefully measured and cut prior to delivery.

Each piece of material was carried from the main road, across bridges, to the village, which is a good 2-3 hours hike away. The unsealed path is also accessible by motorbike, although it is bumpy most of the way.

The iron poles and roof trestles being carried to the school site by the villagers.

Here are the poles and trestles being assembled “upside down” then slotted in place.

Once this is done, everyone pitched in to “flip” it over to slot into the pre-dug column holes.

The column holes were then filled with cement to hold up the iron poles.

Making sure that the pillar structure is strong and will withstand future earthquakes.

The cement mixture was poured into the column holes to hold the iron poles.

The contractor’s team then took over the technical task of bolts and nuts. Here the roof top joints needed to be carefully bolted together and re-measured for the careful laying of the zinc top.

It’s an able-bodied person’s job from here on.

Piece by piece the zinc top was loaded onto the roof top for assembly and attachment.

It looks good from the top.

It was going to be night, but they were still at it…

The supervisor was looking on.

Working hard till nightfall…finally nailed in the last piece.

Krishna (centre) posing with the villagers.

Krishna with the contractor’s team of workers.