We discovered this school during the 2015 earthquake. We made several visits to the small village of Leptung to provide relief for over two hundred families. Leptung is located in the Dolakha district, approximately 7 to 9 hours’ drive from Kathmandu, depending on road conditions.

During our visits to Leptung, we inquired with one of the teachers about their plans for educating the children, considering the school had been completely destroyed. Their response was simply, “We will wait until the government arrives.” With over 5600 schools demolished during the earthquake, we feared that an entire generation might miss out on their education. Consequently, Norbu and I resolved to return with enough metal sheets to construct nine classrooms for the 360 students, along with a food supply to sustain them for a month and a half. Our idea was to appoint a local cook to prepare meals for the children at a temporary school, allowing parents to focus on rebuilding their homes while ensuring the children received nourishment and could continue their studies.

One week later, we returned with 1.2 tons of metal sheets that Norbu had managed to purchase after waiting in line for over seven hours. The entire village welcomed us warmly and assisted in transporting all the sheets up to the village. Initially, there was no road to access the village, so it became a heartwarming human procession. Everyone wanted to contribute to the endeavor.

When we revisited one week later and witnessed the completion of the nine classrooms and the children back in school, it was an immensely gratifying moment.

However, by the summer of 2016, we began to envision rebuilding the school with concrete. Up until then, the government had not inspected the school. Thanks to the generous support of Grégoire Comina and Pierre Morand, the proprietors of COMINA Architecture and Morand Constructions, this dream became a reality.

In autumn 2017, Grégoire, Pierre, Gilbert, Pierre, and several other entrepreneur friends joined forces to travel to Nepal and assist with the construction of the new building. We shipped 30 tons of materials from Switzerland to Nepal via cargo, which presented its own set of challenges. Our Swiss team received support from our Nepali WILD YAK Team and some villagers from Leptung. Each day brought new hurdles for our volunteers, from securing electricity supply to purchasing iron bars in remote areas, and then transporting them by tractor up to the village, to name just a few.

After ten days of intensive labor, the new building stood tall!