ODFL partners with Nepal Youth Opportunity Foundation to build classrooms in Nepal. Nepal is a nation of superlatives. Eight of the world’s ten highest mountains reside there, including the tallest, Mt. Everest. And it is one of the world’s poorest countries, where the average person earns just $1.25 per day. In late 2007, ODFL met with the Nepal Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) to talk about building a school to help the tens of thousands of children who receive no education. NYOF has been working in Nepal since 1991 and has built more than 50 schools and provided tens of thousands of Nepali children with reading materials. The two groups agreed that the village of Dahlsinge, about 50 miles west of the capital city of Kathmandu, would be a good place to build a school. The village is really made up of 8 smaller, surrounding villages, none with a school. The nearest school was more than an hour’s walk, making it all but impossible for the local children to attend. There were 84 children of primary school age in the area around Dahlsinge. Some of them attended class once in a while under a tree near the center of the villages. The government had committed to supply two trained teachers if the community could manage to get a school built. ODFL agreed to fund and NYOF agreed to build a three-room school, desks for 72 students, a set of toilets, and a playground for the children. The project would cost just over US $10,000. ODFL raised the money through fundraisers at six schools in California, Colorado, Missouri, and Ohio. 
The Dahlsinge community donated the land for the facilities and agreed to contribute the labor to carry out the construction. The school rooms were to be 15 by 18 feet apiece with the building constructed of locally- made bricks.  Clearing of the site was begun in February 2008. Construction began in March. By the end of April the walls were up and doors and windows were added in early May. By the end of May the roof was completed and work began on the playground.
In mid-June, 14 U.S. students traveled to Nepal to commemorate the completion of the school. Each student had participated in an ODFL fundraiser at their school and each paid their own way. They left from San Francisco and traveled for over 30 hours, including a stop-over in Hong Kong. The students stayed with families of students who would be attending the school. They also painted the outside of the school and painted unique murals on each of the inside walls. The Nepal National Minister of Education came to the commemoration ceremony on June 30th which was attended by over 200 people from around the country. 
When it came time for the students to leave, everybody cried—students, parents, and village children. As Rachel Clark, one of the American students said, “I had never known that I might have such an impact on the world. But after this trip, I will never doubt it again.” More Photos 1 | More Photos 2 | More Photos 3 | More Photos 4 | 
