January 18, 2008
 Japan's Assistance for the Project for Construction of Buddha Primary and Secondary School Hostel, Gorkha
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The Government of Japan has decided to extend financial assistance of eighty six thousand and twenty one US Dollars ($86,021), equivalent to approximately five million, four hundred and ten thousand Nepalese Rupees (NRs 5,410,000) to the Himalaya Area Conservation and Development Committee for the implementation of the Project for the Construction of Buddha Primary and Secondary School Hostel in Gorkha in Japan's FY 2007. This financial assistance is extended under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme of the Government of Japan.
A Grant Contract to this effect was signed and exchanged today between His Excellency Mr. Tatsuo MIZUNO, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and
Mr. Dhan Bahadur Gurung, President, Himalaya Area
Conservation and Development Committee, Gorkha.
The Grant will be utilized for the construction of four hostel buildings and one dining block with a view to provide accommodation facilities for 120 students. The nine VDCs of Gorkha District and the Asian Architecture Friendship (AAF), a Japanese NGO, will cover about 41% of the estimated total construction cost of over 9.4 million rupees.
It is reiterated that the Embassy of Japan extended financial support to the Committee to construct a school building of Buddha Primary and Secondary School in FY 2001, under the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) Scheme, in cooperation with AAF. In view of the difficulties being faced by the school at present due to the lack of hostel facilities, and the fact that students have been compelled to accommodate themselves in the village or even in the classrooms, the Embassy decided to extend financial assistance for the current Project.
The Himalaya Area Conservation and Development Committee, apart from supporting education to children, is also applying its best efforts in introducing integrated community development through health, sanitation, and income generation programs. AAF-Japan, the counterpart of the Committee, and a non-governmental organization in Japan, will also contribute two million rupees for the hostel construction, along with technical support such as architectural design of the hostel building etc. In addition, the contribution from the nine local VDCs and the community will be worth 1.8 million rupees.
Speaking at the ceremony, H.E. Mr. Mizuno expressed his appreciation to the Committee for taking the initiative for the Project, which is expected to contribute to the education of the people in this remote part of the country and empower the community through education. He also reiterated that the school is the only secondary school at the foot of Mt. Manasulu; a mountain which climbed for the first by Japanese mountaineers in 1956, and expressed his sincere hope that the hostel will play a symbolic role in further strengthening the relationship between the people of Japan and Nepal.
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