Happy Village Project Concluded

32 students from Republic of Korea came to Nepal and exchanged culture and arts with their the Nepalese counterparts. NGO PUM, Nepal/ South Korea and CJ Foundation , Republic of Korea had managed to bring 32 Korean students to Nepal.

The students from Prajwal Shiksha Sadan English Lower Secondary School, a school promoted by NEST as a non-profit making school worked with Korean for four days. The exchange programme was organised from 24-27 January 2008.

The Nepalese children and Korean children were paired up and the Nepalese children took their Korean friends around the village and after visiting the village, they worked together and expressed their feelings and experience through different forms of arts : painting, poems, songs etc. Korean children had a night of home stay with Nepalese families.

Importantly, the children worked together to brighten up the children park of Hetuada which has not been maintained for many years. They painted a wall with their ideas to make a happy village. They worked together in pairs and desired for peace, food, play grounds, green plants, love, school and lovely environment to make a happy village.

The Chief District Officer of Makawanpur district, Mr. Shashi Shankar Shrestha, District Education Officer, Mr. Cholendra Pandit, Communication Officer of Makawanpur District Development Committee, Mr. Ram Krishna Thapa were present in that closing ceremony of the programme.

The artists of Happy Vibaration, Kathmandu, teachers of Prajwal School, NEST members and staff, volunteers and youth workers of NGO PUM and CJ Foundation had worked hard to make this programme a success.

The representative of CJ Foundation committed to donate US$ 5000 to the Children's park development committee to develop the park. She handed over a certificate to the Chairperson of the Committee.

Students exchanged dances on that occasion and at the end, a village party was organised to celebrate the success of the programme.

The CJ Foundation also donated US$500 to the Prajwal School.