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Mera School
 Mera is a primary school about 1 hour's walk up the valley
from the village of Khari Khola. It is sited on a flat area about the
size of a tennis court and enjoys magnificent views of the surrounding
mountains. The number of pupils varies from 50 to about 80 and the
school has 2 or 3 teachers, depending on the funding available. It was
largely financed through the efforts of Barry Sligh from Taunton
Gardens, Christchurch, New Zealand. He had visited Nepal as a
horticulturist and immediately saw potential in developing varieties of
rhododendron, the native tree of Nepal. He has since propagated
seedlings of daphne, aracaema and other indigenous plants. He also saw
the need for improved educational opportunities for the Nepalese
children. With Ngima Dorji Sherpa supervising the project, the first
stage of the school was successfully completed in 2000. The original
building, had 3 classrooms and a teachers' office.
In 2001 Mera School was officially opened, when Barry Sligh and a group
of Christ's College students were in Nepal. As a special project for
Mera, the students were able to fund a 600m pipeline, which brought
water from a small stream to the school. A considerable amount of
clothes was distributed to the village families. Each pupil was given a
polar fleece tracksuit and multi-coloured beanie. It was party time and
the visitors were treated like royalty by the local people.
Such was the success of the 2001 visit by the Christ's College
students, that a similar trip was organised for the next year. The fund
raising effort was to extend the school to double its capacity. The new
building had a wooden floor and the walls and ceiling were lined. The
grounds were extended and a permanent volleyball court established.
Again there was a substantial distribution of clothes and equipment for
the school. Although only a few days were available for working on the
new classrooms, substantial progress was made, first leveling off then
starting to lay the floor. The wooden window and door frames were also
painted. The work was left to be completed by the local builders, whose
stone construction work and general craftsmanship were of an amazing
quality.
 In 2004 a large school group from Christ's College was due
to visit Nepal. However, within 4 days of departing New Zealand, the
trip was cancelled because of increased maoist activity. The
considerable amount of clothing to accompany this trip was later
shipped in November, but has been held up by Indian customs in Calcutta
since early January 2005. Efforts to get this to the children of Mera
School and the village families, is continuing. The local community is
very grateful for the aid work and it would be good to see it continued
in the future.
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