Planting Season, Teacher Training, and Community: 2024 Summer Update (Q2)
This quarter, we welcomed new babies at our Birthing Center, facilitated crucial medical transport, and conducted comprehensive health check-ups.
Our agricultural initiatives in Oda thrived, with over 50 vegetable varieties planted. Our education programs empowered teachers and students alike through training and resource distribution.
Together, these efforts are what build a sustainable community. Read below for our favorite highlights from this quarter, and download a PDF here.
Questions? Send us a note at info@odafoundation.org.
Building the Education Workforce Through Partnership
While our work often focuses on the classroom, ensuring a sustainable workforce is a critical pillar. This quarter brought a wide range of partnerships, which have taken years of resourcefulness and relationship-building.
Our Teacher Exchange Program, in collaboration with Niten Memorial School, Kathmandu, sent three teachers from two rural schools to Kathmandu for training, bridging the gap between remote rural and urban education.
We also conducted a comprehensive Teacher Training Program for 40 principals and teachers from various municipalities, led by esteemed trainers Manjita Koirala and Jessica Hold from Niten Memorial School.
We worked with 12 graduate students as volunteer teachers across four schools in the Mahawai Rural Municipality for five weeks. Our partnership with the Rotary Club of Kathmandu, Solidarity International, and Embrace International Foundation enabled us to distribute school bags, uniforms, and dental kits to over 100 students from our communities.
New Lives at the Birthing Center + Ongoing Vaccinations
With a baby found in breech position at our birthing center, a helicopter paramedic transported the mother to a hospital. This service, provided by the government, is available to Oda because of our long-running partnership with the local government and Nepal’s Ministry of Health.
Seven healthy babies were delivered at the Birthing Center this quarter. Our all-female team of nurse-midwives are on call 24/7 to support mothers in need.
The clinic continued vaccinations, administering polio vaccines to children aged 5 to 8, and conducted health check-ups for individuals over 50: monitoring blood pressure, sugar levels, and overall health. Without Oda Foundation’s presence, all of these children and adults are much less likely to receive these services.
Health trainings out in the community.
Building a Sustainable Community: Agriculture and Partnerships
The Kalikot District Collaboration Committee visited Oda Foundation this quarter -- these visits, while they don’t show the breadth of Oda Foundation’s work, are critical to our long-term community presence.
Our reciprocal visit to the Agriculture School in Khadachakra Municipality, Kalikot, paved the way for discussions on health, education, livelihood, and future plans.
Our collaboration provided vital water resources for rice farming in Oda Village, and the community completed our rice planting following the wheat harvest.
Our Karnali Ratna Agriculture Team planted over 50 varieties of vegetables, sharing invaluable agricultural knowledge with the community. Our buffaloes and goats are thriving in uphill pastures, and will stay there all summer to avoid the drought.
