In February 2016 we announced our collaboration with the brilliant Pod Charity. Our aim was to provide 2,200 meals a month to children studying in less financially supported schools throughout Nepal. In the past year, with the help of our donations, Pod have helped immensely to improve the lives of these students.

Prabhat School is one of the five Nepalese schools receiving funding for daily meals from the Outdoor365 Group. Our monthly donations, made possible by you, provide a daily hot meal for the pupils who otherwise may not receive one.

Since launching Project Pod in February 2016 we have provided 26,400 meals to children across five different Nepalese schools. We would like to thank you for your continued support which allows us to provide these crucial meals. We hope you will continue to enjoy this journey with us.

Janice, a local Pod Charity Manager based in Pokhara who works closely with Prabhat School, explains how these meals are making a difference to the students and the community…

“Prabhat School is located in Chahada Dada Sedi, which is around a 45 minute walk from the Lakeside area of Pokhara, central Nepal. The school is located on top of a small hill which is on the way to Sarangkot, a village situated above Pokhara with spectacular views of the Annapurna Mountain Range. Since launching project Pod in February 2016 Outdoor365 has provided 26,400 meals to Children in five Nepalese schools.
 

Most of the children attending Prabhat School come from very poor families, consequently most of the parents can’t afford to send them to a private school in the city centre. However over time, due to lack of funding and resources, the small rural government schools are starting to close down with children being forced to travel elsewhere for education. The teachers from Prabhat School say that one of the reasons why this school is still running is due to the children’s continued and increased attendance motivated by receiving the meals. This is a great added value and motivation for the parents to keep sending their children every day. This ensures that the minimum number of children attend the school for it to stay open and operate. If this school closes down the majority of the kids will no longer be able to attend school as their parents won’t be able to afford to send them to a private school or pay for the transport to the closest government free school.

The children mostly come from Sedi area but there are few who walk for up to an hour to come to their school. As many of the children come from low income families their parents are not able to afford to send them lunches for school and many do not have breakfast. The meals provided by Outdoor365 give them the energy required to continue to go to school and learn.

Many of the children’s parents have low paid jobs on constructions sites and unfortunately some of the children come from difficult home environments. Despite difficulties at home, the children have a huge desire to study and with the right environment provided in school these kids could do wonders in their lives.

The school tries to vary their lunches on a daily basis. The school provides beans as they are a great source of protein and they mix vegetables with noodles or beaten rice which lets the kids get the nutrition required for growing and energy required for concentration.

The children in this school are brilliant kids. Seeing them getting to enjoy their school and the lunches is an amazing feeling. Providing meals is a simple initiative which makes a huge difference to the lives of the children coming to this school and also for the future of this school which has some amazing, committed teachers working every day to make a good educational foundation.”

You can learn more about the Project Pod initiative here!

Click here to learn more about how the Pod Charity and Pod Volunteer are supporting the children in Nepal and find out about how you can volunteer and help the children too.