Please donate to my Team Dayā fundraising effort – all funds go directly to building schools. If you are curious about Building Change with Team Dayā, please contact me.
By Team Dayā Founding Member Jaryd Knutsen
Team Dayā returned home after breaking ground on our sixth school in late March. Thank you to all of our supporters and members who made this possible. This time we were back in the terai of Nepal, in a remote village called Hardahani, which is about a 2 hour drive from the City of Dhangadhi, and 15 kilometers from the border of India.
This trek was really special for many reasons. First and foremost is that Team Dayā was able to return back to Dhayapur, where we built our first school in 2019, and got to see that school in action. Words cannot describe the joy we felt, being able to see our host community again, and the emotional experience of seeing the school in use by so many children.
(PHOTOS, ABOVE: Me and my friend Gobi back in 2019, and to the right me and Gobi now in 2024. BELOW: Visiting Dhayapur, where to financed the first school in 2019.)
After spending an afternoon in Dhayapur, we spent that night in Dhangadhi, before heading to our new host community, Hardahani, the next morning.
Similar to our experience in Dhayapur, the Hardahani community welcomed us with open arms and hosted a formal welcome ceremony, filled with dancing and speeches, and celebrating the work we were about to start. This ceremony also featured a special guest, Sushila Shahi, the first woman mayor of a municipality in Nepal. As with all of our school builds, there was a covenant signing, which the local community all signed (some with their finger print if they were illiterate) to ensure equal access to education for both boys and girls.
Hardahani has 82 current students using a single room school house (ECD (early child development), first and second graders) … that’s obviously not physically possible, nor does it enable an environment for children to thrive in learning. The school has currently spilled over into other buildings.
When our school is complete, it will be a 3-room structure allowing them to separate rooms for the different grades. This additional infrastructure will qualify Hardahani to get more government support for their school, starting a snowball effect. More infrastructure = more support. More support = more resources. More resources = more enrollment. More enrollment = additional infrastructure.
Over time, it is expected the community will petition for additional school buildings to accommodate additional primary grades. Currently these students must walk to neighboring communities for their schooling. Third graders need to walk about two kilometers into another municipality and students beyond third grade must cross a river to reach their school location.
After the welcome ceremony and initial ground breaking, we were all assigned to a host family, which would be our home during our stay in the village. The cultural immersion aspect of this experience is something you can’t duplicate. You can’t Airbnb your way into this. Being able to stay with the local community, helping them cook, eating with them, playing games with and getting to know one another, etc. You create a unique bond with the local community in such a short amount of time. It’s truly incredible.
The work itself is part of what makes this experience so fulfilling. We’re not simply building a school for the community. We’re doing this hand-in-hand with them, together. The fact that we’re putting in the sweat equity with the local community is paramount. Their work ethic also puts ours to shame… While we have gloves, boots, and gallons of filtered water as we struggle in the 90 degree heat, the locals are doing the same work in sandals, dresses, and some were even wearing sweaters!
Some of the most touching moments during this trek was speaking with the local mothers of school-aged children while working together, and hearing their excitement when asked what they plan to do with the money they’ll save by sending their children to the local government school we’re building (versus sending them to a private school out of the community). They jovially shared plans to expand their homes, and to build out new gardens to harvest more food. The impact we’re making became really tangible when engaging in those conversations on the work-site.
Building change takes a village – literally. This wouldn’t be possible without the generous support from all of the friends, family and colleagues who donate. THANK YOU. You all are responsible for the multi-generational, downstream impact we’re making together. Going into these communities is a privilege, as we receive so much in return. You really can’t overstate the fulfilling aspect of participating in one of these builds, nor can you overstate the cultural immersion and culinary experience. We have many opportunities to get involved and join upcoming school builds. Please, join us!
Please consider supporting Team Dayā. We cannot build these schools without your support. Example investment opportunities:
- $100 Five shovels for excavating the school’s foundation
- $250 All the nails, nuts, and bolts to build a roof for the school
- $500 In-country mason during the entire construction of the school
- $1,000 Paint for a school
- $40,000 Builds a school
Team Dayā 2024 Plans
In 2024, we plan to build schools in Nepal (March), Senegal (June 2024) and Guatemala (December 2024). These ground breakings will be our second school in each of these countries.
The exact start dates are:
- Sunday, March 17, 2024 – Nepal (arrive Kathmandu) [groundbreaking completed, construction in progress]
- Sunday, June 23, 2024 – Senegal (arrive Dakar) [scheduled]
- Sunday, December 1, 2024 – Guatemala (arrive Guatemala City) [spots available]
If you are curious to learn more about joining a build, please reach out to our Head of Recruiting Jaryd Knutsen.
