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The construction of a school and health clinic in 1990 in the village of Ghunsa was the start of the Kangchenjunga School Project. Cherie Bremer-Kamp returned to Ghunsa, the highest permanent settlement on the trekking route to the base camp for Mt. Kangchenjunga, to make good on her promise to the villagers who'd helped her during the dramatic escape from the mountain ravaged by winter storms. Money raised from slides shows and lectures conducted over three continents, generous donations from family and friends, plus the support of a number organizations sympathetic to the plight of the rural poor in Nepal, culminated in the realization of this promise. Cherie Bremer-Kamp coordinated the construction of a nine-room school and outfitted a medical clinic. She also trained a local village Buddhist monk to function as a "barefoot doctor" by providing basic health care services to other residents.
Once the school was completed, it was donated to the Nepalese government to replace the existing school which at that time was little more than a yak shelter. The school provides pirmary and secondary level education for as many as 40 students.
The clinic is well supplied with basic medications designed to meet the the health-care needs of the community. It has been most successful in reaching this objective. Since 1991, Pema Chembal, the health care worker, has been undergoing training programs and attending workshops to enhance his physical assessment, diagnostic skills, and knowledge of appropriate therapies and interventions. His salary and the clinic expenses are met by KSP at about $1,500 per year.
Despite the successes of the school and clinic however, a number of improvements can be made. specifically, many of the teachers are neither from the area nor from similar cultural backgrounds: many come from Hindu regions of Nepal and have little linguistic, cultural or religious connection to the Tibetan Buddhists in the area. One of the Kanchenjunga School project's long-term goals is to train teachers who hail from the area, share more in common with their students and are more likely to stay in the region long term.
To help achieve these aims, a number of new programs have been developed:
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