In spite of murmuring of ban against Facebook by political leaders, a Facebook based competition is helping build a school. Yesterday, a ground break event was organized in Chapagaun, Lalitpur.

Estimated to cost about  $200,000 the construction is beginning with the funds won on the Facebook. “With the $100,000 we won on the Facebook, we are beginning the construction,” said Shisir Khanal, Executive Director of Sarvodaya Nepal. “US based Chase Bank organized a competition among non profit organizations. With 15,784 votes were a runner up,” added Mr. Khanal.

On Thursday, ground breaking was organized with traditional ceremony. The school will be built using local and sustainable materials such as stones, adobe, and bamboo. People who helped during the Chase Community Giving were also recognized at the ceremony.

What is Jyotidaya School?

Run by young people in Chapagaun, Jyotidaya School was established by local youth to provide quality education to poor and underprivileged families. Established as a non-profit school, this is neither a public school nor a profit making private business.  The school was started to serve where most children pay a significantly less fee than in a private school, however the quality of education is comparative. Over the last few years, 100% of the students have graduated from the school where as national average is only 60%.

How did Facebook votes helped?

A regular user of Facebook, Mr. Khanal, noticed an ad by the Chase Community Giving Program to sign up for the challenge. The competition organized by the Chase Bank offered up to $250,000 to a non-profit with the most votes. Organizations on top 200 would receive $20,000.

“I thought we could definitely be on the top 200,” Khanal said. “However, we didn’t think we could win.” Using networks of Nepalese around the world, Sarvodaya was not only on top 200 but came out on the top five.

Initially Mr. Khanal asked his friends to help out. That clearly wasn’t enough. Since Facebook is popular among young people, he started reaching to youth in Kathmandu. He was supported by high school students at Brihaspati Vidyasadan in Kathmandu.

A campaign was launched in the school in Kathmandu. With the borrowed laptops, they went from school to school. “We went to at least 15 schools and the students there really were supportive,” Khanal added. “Because the voting process was little complex, we wrote step by step process on school blackboards.” Many volunteers helped in the process.

In addition, they put up a stall at ICT exhibition in Kathmandu. The organizers provided free space. “School in Kathmandu, stall at ICT exhibition, mysansar.com – a Nepalese blog were key source of support.”
“We even had booth set up at the national stadium on day of the World Cup Finals. Unfortunately, the internet didn’t work,” Khanal said.

What is Sarvodaya?

The organization that is building the school is not an INGO. “We are a network of organizations that is inspired by Gandhian philosophy of welfare of all.”

“Sarvodaya Nepal is established to promote non-violence and sustainable development by Nepalese young people.” In Nepal, Sarvodaya is 100% voluntary organization. Sarvodaya believes in beginning with self in our neighborhood and communities. Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka is considered a very successful grassroots organization.

(This is unofficial translation of the news published on Nagarik News. Written by Umesh Shrestha. on January 8, 2011)

After a successful Facebook campaign to win Chase Community Giving Challenge, we are now at the end of design phase for the construction of new sustainable school building for Jyotidaya. We hope to share the design with you all in next couple of weeks.

We also ran a five day long CLE training for teachers at the School. Unlike traditional lecture oriented teachings, CLE encourages participatory teaching and experiential learning processes. We are implementing the teaching method for grade 1 and 2 for this year and hope to extend further in coming years.

Only recently, we, along with Anuvuti, hosted a participatory development training program for BSW students in Shikharpa. About 20 BSW students of Xavier International, stayed in the village for a week and experienced village life, while learning about Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and participatory development models.

We are also in the process of developing comprehensive village development plan in Shikharpa.

Sarvodaya Friday
Now, we also have a small contact office in Dillibazaar, where we plan on meeting every Friday afternoon for a round of meditation and reflection.

You are welcome to join us. The Friday session will begin at 4:30 PM. And, we will meditation collectively for about 20 minutes. Each Friday we will either have a speaker or watch a documentary and reflect on service, nonviolence, and alternative models of social and political change.

On October 24th, we will begin the first of our ‘public’ Friday session by watching a documentary called, “The Secret.”

Seats are extremely limited.

Please RSVP send a SMS with your name to 9849-370451

You can download our office direction on our contact page.

If you plan on attending these session please make sure to be on time. We plan on starting meditation sharp at 4:30 PM.

Thank you for your support

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उद्देश्य:

सर्वोदय नेपालको उद्देश्य आत्म जागरुक ब्यक्ति र समुदाय द्वारा समतामूलक समाजको निर्माण हो ।

मूल लक्ष:

सर्वोदय नेपालको मूल लक्ष स्थानिय स्रोत, परम्परा, र ज्ञान को प्रयोगद्वारा आध्यात्मिक, नैतिक, सांस्कृतिक, सामाजिक, आर्थिक, र राजनैतिक विकास गर्दै प्रेम, करुणा, सेवा र अहिंसा को भावना आत्मसाथ गर्ने आत्मनिर्भर समुदाय को निर्माण हो ।

लक्षहरु:

१्, मूल्य र मान्यतामा आधारीत शिक्षा प्रणािल

२, सबै समुदायाका सदश्यहरुको आधारभूत आवश्यकता पूरा भएको आत्मनिर्भर समुदाय को निर्माण
मानवीय आधारभूत आवश्यकताहरु:

• सच्छ र सुन्दर वातावरण
• सुद्द खानेपानी
• पाैष्टिक खानेकुरा
• आवास
• स्वास्थ सुविधा
• ऊर्जा
• संचार
• यातायात
• शान्ति र मानव सुरक्षा
• आध्यात्मक र सांस्कृितक

३, सामाजिक जागरण – सहि किसिमका सामाजिक संस्कृति र मूल्य मान्यताको प्रवर्धन

४, आध्यात्मिक चेतना को विकासद्वारा पूृ्ण व्यक्तित्वको जागरण

५, स्वसासित समुदायको विकास

Thank you for giving your vote, time, energy, skill and love.

Sarvodaya USA, with 15,784 votes, was one of the runner-ups to win US$ 100,000 on a month long Facebook competition that was organized by Chase Community Giving Program. Estimated 500,000 small non profits were eligible to compete.

Our campaign was a global effort that relied on the dedicated supporters. Young high school students in Kathmandu, spent countless hours in front of their computers, on the street, and at schools, campaigning for us and collecting votes.

Despite the fact that we competed with organizations, which have networks and visibility much larger than ours, our belief in your support paid off. We know we couldn’t have made it without you.

THANK YOU!

Even though the grant will come from Chase, the school that will be built and communities that will be supported will stand as a testament to your compassion and willingness to believe in good that is around us.

Thank you so much for believing in the possibility and participating in the process.

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Just click on Like Sarvodaya USA on Facebook and help us win $250,000.

Help us build schools, provide water, and build sustainable communities in Nepal.