Author: Ron Konecny (Ron Konecny)

Need and Opportunity One of the main reasons why Nepal is economically a least developed country is because there is not much happening for economic development. Nepal imports over 90% of products for different purposes and exports less than 10% products to earn foreign currencies resulting in the huge trade deficit. Therefore a major economic overhaul is required to make Nepal a developed country in the 21st century. For that to happen, Nepal must give the highest priority to science, technology creation, and innovation in order to ensure a sustainable base for her much-needed growth engines. Considerable attention is needed to...

Happy New Year from Nepal! Dear Supporters: I would like to update you on of the progress of the projects I did with the Myagdi district community members and supporters. 1. With donations from around the world and HEF; HEF helped rebuild four classrooms in Shree Kanyadevi Lower Secondary School in Pokhari village of Gorkha district that was completely damaged by the earthquake at the cost of about $32,000. 2. Two new classrooms were added to Himanchal High School with funds from the U.S., the Nepal government and contributions from the communities. 3. A new two bedroom solar heated building...

Ajay has been fundraising for HEF through a golf tournament over the last few years. He recently visited Nangi and shared this email with the BOD: “Greetings to you all the way from Nepal. I’m in Kathmandu at the moment and will be flying back to the US in few days. Wanted to share with you the amazing experience I had while visiting Nangi village and the school last week.  It was so wonderful to have received such a warm welcome by the entire school on my arrival there. The day started with an assembly gathering of all the students...

Toya is a teacher at Himanchal School for Higher Education. He supervises the School Inside English learning classes givien long distance by native English speakers all over the world and connected via Skype to students and adults in Nangi. (The last post was written by one of those teachers and described her experience.) Toya said: “I think The long distance teaching is very fruitful and useful to students and teachers. Students and teachers are very interested to take lessons. They eagerly await their turn. They really enjoy the lessons. The teachers are really qualified,dynamic ,energetic and friendly. They have been teaching...

Connecting to Nangi through The School Inside Whilst working at a summer school in Europe this summer I learned about ‘The School Inside’. It is a voluntary run online school that connects with learners through Skype to give English classes with fluent speakers of the language. These either supplement the lessons they already receive or are the students’ sole access to English instruction.  One of the teachers I was working with has been volunteering with them for quite a while and shared some of her experiences, which all sounded really special.  I had been searching for volunteer work which fits...

Sharone visited Nangi for the first time in 2000 as a volunteer. She recently returned and shared her experience with Dr. Mahabir Pun in a letter. Dear Mahabir, “I hope your travels are off to a good start. Keep me posted on your New York plans and if it works, would be lovely to visit. Here are my brief impressions to share with HEF: In the spring of 2000 I had the honor and joy of spending 7 weeks in Nangi, volunteering in the school and tree nursery. Over the past 16 years, every month that passed brought memories and...

A long time supporter of HEF, Sherwood, describes how he first heard about HEF and met Mahabir Pun. When did you first hear about or meet Dr. Mahabir Pun? My wife and I met Mahabir in Nangi Village in 1995, when our Annapurna trek was washed out by torrential rains, and we took refuge in several classrooms of the Nangi school, where Mahabir taught…serendipitous. We stayed several days to dry out, then finished our trek up to Kopra Ridge. While in Nangi, Mahabir expounded on his plans for the village. We thought that he had more simultaneous ideas than most...

Zachary, from North Carolina, USA, volunteered in June 2016 in Nangi village. He taught wilderness medicine skills to guides, porters, community trek lodge staff, students and local healthcare providers. He shares a meditative page from his journal: 21 June 2016 “Today has been one of the most incredible of my life. It started out fine, woke up and got ready to teach. The day was rainy and crappy all day, but at sunset, it cleared. Completely, totally cleared with the sun and clouds in the lower elevations. Dhaulagiri, Nilgiri, Annapurna south and Annapurna were all visible together in an unbroken line....

I received an email from Tejendra Magar who is a teacher and community leader in Khani Gaun. He told me about the school he started in this remote district. This is not a HEF project, but I wanted to share his story. He tells a compelling story of how one person can make a difference. He is looking for volunteers to teach in the school and he can be reached at: tejendramagar@gmail.com Khani Gaun is most remote village -5 of Adhikarichaur village Development Committee (VDC) Baglung district of Nepal, inhabitant of an ethnic group (Magar). Their primary profession is agriculture and...

The school building construction of Shree Kanyadevi Lower Secondary School in Pokhari village, Barpak of Gorakha district is almost complete. The school was destroyed by the earthquake. The roof has been placed and the cement plaster of the floor of the rooms and walls are also complete. The villagers completed the work just before the start of the monsoon season. Now the villagers will start the inside work and furnish the rooms. Thank you to the many people who donated funds. You have changed lives.