✨ “Listening Locally, Acting Practically: What Works to Keep Children in School”
(Grounded, actionable, and community-centric)

In our journey supporting community-led education in Nepal, Console Mission has come to a powerful realisation: school dropouts don’t stem from a single cause—and they can’t be solved with a single fix. Instead, we’ve learned to recognize multiple root issues, each needing tailored, compassionate responses:

• 🌧️ Environmental barriers: Landslides and floods regularly isolate villages, disrupting education access. We’ve responded by promoting decentralized, resilient learning spaces like Our Study Place.
• 💻 Digital exclusion: Lack of internet access and digital tools often pushes students out of the learning ecosystem. By expanding rural connectivity, we’re creating more inclusive learning environments.
• 🛡️ Safeguarding gaps: Students face risks of exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Through safeguarding training and policy implementation, we empower communities to protect their children.
• 🏡 Household challenges: Economic hardship, domestic pressures, and gender bias particularly impact girls. We advocate for holistic support—educational, emotional, and economic—to keep learners safe and motivated.
• 🎒 Psychosocial needs: Trauma, stigma, and lack of peer support often lead to quiet disengagement. We emphasize joyful, community-led spaces where students feel seen and valued.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution—but by listening deeply and iterating locally, we’ve seen students return, re-engage, and reimagine their futures.

Prevention is better than cure

Earth has been a challenging place for us and all living being. If we look at our cloths that we are wearing, it is either thin or thick that might be according to what we are feeling warm or cold. And, is not it is directly connected to the changing weather? Or, how do you select for your body? Right here, I suggest that if you have not considered nature as adversaries for surviving, then please start thinking about it. When was the last time you flew to another place? It is an innovation that has brought world nearer. It is really useful and meeting the need by shortening the time that used to take more hours or days before. Still plane manufacturers and scientists are exploring ways to shorten the time taken shown in Discovery TV Channel. My grandfather used to share that reaching the nearest place taking 2-hours now by road used to take 3-days; he used to walk up the hill, passing jungles and rivers, needed to hold at villages or in cave at night. During monsoon it was challenging to cross rivers. But, since his height was 6.1 feet, he used to help other traveller to cross. There are stories on journey by foot when there were no vehicles and roads. But, concentrating the title of this article: Have not we human changed the picture of past, created uncountable wearable, edible and usable goods in different form, shapes and sizes, tastes and colours that is troubling enough? In Nepal we can find bread made by Nanglo, a bakery company that has expiry date clearly mentioned in it. It is a tiny example, I have experienced that as the expiry date approaches, the color of crust or end piece of bread was changing into green and next day suddenly white moist was seen. The fact is that human made things has limitations. Is not anything manufactured caution safety matters? However, safety and precautions are applied producing goods or designing services, the end of human life is sure.

Human being is better journeying days to reach from one place to another. It helped to keep physically fit, caring the environment and increase and develop close intimacies between human beings. Moreover, it helped to understand the controls of nature.

Similarly, the current situation created by coronavirus health pandemic, death/life situation is not only the time that uncertainties and safety concerns. Every time when we travel by or drive modern means, we follow rules because risks matters most. Now, yes, it is stupid to talk about hope but better first to talk about fearlessness because if a person has hope he/she do not have fear, mostly fear of death. Those who have not found full happiness or a little happiness then fear of the current situation kills. As well as every moment is fearful because of the lack of hope. The another fact is that the world is full of fear. And, crossing the limitations has brought us into this hopeless situation. Thus, those who have been living understanding the fact about the limitations and the unlimited love that is already available for us have no fear of this kind of sudden situation. Because, once human being has crossed the limitations failing to follow the advise though there was limitless environment managed by the creator.

The earth is in such a situation that a result of uncaring prevention. Squeezing the margins between risk and safety/caution is the result of current situation.

Learning by fully participating

A challenging task

The geography of Nepal consists of planes, hills and mountains. And, there are winter, rainy and hot seasons. Rainy season is challenging in hilly regions because road and livelihoods linked water supplies are affected. Children can’t walk to school, teacher and Government staff travelling by road don’t reach school or their work places in time or sometime can’t attend for a long time. Those responsible to repair and maintain road and assist smoothly pass vehicles and people are unreluctant to take challenges because stones and soil are frequently and unpredictably falling that is a risk of life.

Similarly, in last year i.e. 2019 many villages in the working areas of Console Mission was affected that communication, transportation and overall lives activities were stopped. After a long – about 2 and a half months when a team visited they walked half a way for about 2 hours to reach the villages. And, it is found that everything was devastated. People were managing to continue lives activities on their own what and how it was possible. Local Village Representative of Console Mission shared about the continuation of Study Centre because childrens were distracted continuation by landslides. Beside that, water tank was swept away by flood and the place was covered by landslide. 18 households of Bhattedanda village was seeking support to manage water supply necessary for livelihoods besides drinking water like for their domestic animals, fields and hygiene purposes.

Government of the local area cannot afford to construct quickly because there are similar situations in multiple places that local people manages to stay and wait for NGOs active in the area to get help. However, NGOs like Console Mission consults the Village Representative to organise need assessment meeting and write application followed by meeting minute.

The organisational process carried on and necessary tasks are conducted like field visit and finding the initiation of the responsible stakeholders. Coming to the point, after the required or some percentage of resources is available for the construction, a meeting is organised by the Village Representative in the direction of the organisation where it is informed to the beneficiaries to contribute their skill and time. But, it is challenging because they need motivation. In many cases snacks or food must be managed that is better comparison to manage labour. Though Nepali society still follows tradition to help each other called #Pharma but when NGO initiates project or long term programmes it is a different concept. Therfore, Console Mission #practices to involve beneficiaries from the project designing stages whether it is directly initiated or indirectly, participation of individual households is inevitable.

People participation is for the sustainability of what is initiated whether a small water tank construction or awareness program

Still the people of the working area of Console Mission needs to understand that life is challenging and what they contribute for the development matters for the progressive development. To come over these challenges, an NGO who identified, developed concept and tested it works should get resources to move ahead quickly.

When the water management project started with the support from an organisation that concerns the people affected by the disaster, it was informed in written (proposal) people participation was assured. People has skills, time and concerns. And, moreover Console Mission #initiates People Participation for the People Participation Organisation. It means that this organised team protects or continues what is started or initiated. Without the involvement of the beneficiaries, the continuation and progressive development or sustainability of the initiation is at risk.