NAG TODAY
Although NAG has grown considerably over the years, it has retained its family atmosphere. There are currently about 200 children living in the home and an additional 250 children from the poorest backgrounds can attend school at NAG every day. The stronger ones help the weaker ones, the older ones take care of the younger ones in the home. Some of the children come to NAG as babies and stay until they are about 20 years old. Most of the children do not know their exact date of birth. Thanks to an “Ämtliplan” the children are integrated in the daily structure. The chores include, for example, washing dishes, mopping or cleaning the common rooms.
SCHOOL
The NAG-internal school “Niten Memorial School” or “NiMS” for short has been state-approved since 1998. Since March 1995, the teachers have been working according to the official curriculum, which includes Nepali, English, mathematics, geometry, IT and social studies. English is the language of instruction in the higher grades. From grade 11 onwards, the school is divided into three fields of study: Science (natural sciences), Humanities and Commerce (business). Since 2012, NAG has been registered for Humanities and can offer this field of study at NAG. Students who choose other fields of study attend grades 11 and 12 in private schools in Kathmandu. This is because NAG does not have the laboratory needed to teach chemistry and physics.
NiMS is attended daily by nearly 450 students from Nursery on, which can be compared to playgroup in our country, up to Grade 12. A total of 27 teachers are employed by NAG and an additional 20 people work for and in the school. These are for example the bus driver or the cooks.
FOOD
Every day, hundreds of meals are distributed in the dining hall. The just over 200 children who live at the NAG receive a full meal for lunch and dinner in addition to breakfast. In addition, the 250 day students get their lunch at NAG. Breakfast includes bread baked in the in-house bakery, confit and tea. For lunch there is typical Nepalese food with rice, lentils and vegetable curry. At “Tea Time” there is tea and cookies for everyone and once a week there is also fruit. For dinner, rice, lentils and vegetable curry are served again and once a week there is meat, eggs or spicy side dishes called pickles.
In order to feed everyone at NAG, our kitchen team cooks 50kg of rice every day. When there are vacations and the students from outside the home do not attend school, 25kg of rice is cooked. In addition, the team cooks 10kg of lentils and 50kg of vegetables every day during school hours and 25kg during vacations.
ACTIVITIES
The children have different ways to spend their time before and after school. There are different workshops where handicraft, artistic, sport and musical skills are trained. Courses are offered in the following areas: Dance, Music, Art, Climbing, Basketball, Football, Cricket, Table Tennis, Cooking, Sewing and Computer Science.
ART ROOM
Our art room is a real eye-catcher and pleases many NAGers. The room was furnished with the help of Dr. Andrew Grey and Mr. Jeroen Bartels and the realization was possible thanks to the generous donation of the International School of Zug and Lucerne (ISZL). Three young women who grew up in the NAG are now responsible for the art room. They teach classes, see that everything is tidied up and left behind clean, and that the room will give pleasure to many more NAG children in their creative work.
LIBRARY
NAG has its own small library. All students can use it. The library has quite a selection of different books. Here you can find anything from children’s books to academic textbooks, simple stories or novels. The bookshelves in the library were all designed and built at NAG by NAGers.
BAKERY
Every day, 58 loaves of bread are baked in NAG’s in-house bakery. This requires 25kg of flour, 13l of water, 500g of yeast, 500g of salt and 2l of oil. The idea came from minimizing the immense plastic waste, since breads from outside are often wrapped in plastic. Moreover, a healthy and filling breakfast is important for the children and teenagers.
IT-CLASSROOM
The room is attached to the school. There are a total of 30 computers for the children at NAG. The goal is that the children learn how to operate and use a computer. The children start computer lessons in 5th grade. In addition, NAG has 15 iPads that can be used on the go in the classrooms.
