OUR STORY
In 2004 amongst great political upheaval in Nepal, Zoe Dryden found herself living with Shreeram Devkota in his small, remote home on the edge of Chitwan national part. As a business start-up specialist she was used to being busy and found the adjustment to volunteering hard, especially in light of schools being shut down due to protests and roads closed…meaning there was little to contribute at that time as a volunteer.
Shreeram himself was also not working, as his strong social and political viewpoints, which he shared freely on his radio show saw him as a contentious pick for coveted, permanent teaching roles in his district. Shreeram was an English teacher with a strong interest in international affairs and social contribution. Zoe was a strong business woman with a desire to socially contribute. So from their late night walks through rice fields the idea of FACE Nepal emerged.
Shreeram had been thinking about the basic concepts of FACE Nepal for a number of years, having spoken to other village academics and social workers he had gone as far as developing a name and a strategy for how he best thought social work should be conducted. As Zoe started to learn of the short-fallings and corruption in various aid organisations in operation she was faced with a choice, leave Nepal rather jaded and discouraged or help create something different.
So FACE Nepal was created. With the combination of Shreeram’s strategy to build a sustainable, model of social contribution, through what became called the Role Model village strategy, and later evolved into the Role Model School, and Zoe’s desire to form an organization free of corruption, with mixed caste, mixed gender and fully transparent and accountable income and investment, FACE Nepal was formed and legally registered.
There were many many learnings along the way but with the shared intention to do the best they could to contribute in a fair, honest and professional way, FACE Nepal started to grow and attract further support from people with the same intention. Women’s groups were formed to own the land-based premises built, community groups were formed to help oversee selection and ongoing success of initiatives and a local and international board was formed to govern, audit and guide the work done.
Today, FACE Nepal is legally registered in NZ, UK and Nepal with oversight from an international board of voluntary ex-volunteers. FACE Nepal board members visit and audit activities in Nepal at their own cost no less than once a year and the majority of our contribution comes from child sponsorships, project donations and volunteers. FACE Nepal isalways growing and evolving its contribution model and every volunteer is invited to contribute towards this in any capacity they feel to.
As a single example of our social impact, once school stands out in the district that had 18 students in 2012 and with the help of FACE Nepal, its women’s group, volunteers and great local leadership, it now has 500 students with a 100% enrollment level in the district, incredible pass rates and a meal programme that feeds every child. It’s a government funded school operating to the highest standard and role modelling to others around. This school is mixed caste and mixed gender and when its last few programmes are complete (awaiting sponsored funding), it will pay forward its contribution by helping mentor other schools to reach such standards. This is the model of FACE Nepal; A friendship network that receives and gives support through aligned intentions of helping to contribute to society.