Ramechap district is located in a mountainous region in central Nepal, and while not geographically far from Kathmandu, the terrain and infrastructure cause it to be  quite isolated and therefore poor.  The region was chosen as our next organizational target as we felt that a) there was great need in the region and b) its relative proximity to Kathmandu would allow the headquarters to provide support services and for the volunteers to have access to medical care as needed. Likewise the community was very interested in receiving Tevel’s support and willing to work in partnership and allocate resources to the projects.

Tevel began operations in Ramechap in March 2013. In the first stage, selected staff members, led by Aatmaram Neupane, one of our most talented and experienced staff members who previously worked in the Kalimati area, began establishing the community frameworks such as the youth movement, farmer’s groups, teachers clubs and women’s groups that will be the foundation of our intervention in the coming years. Likewise they prepared the logistics infrastructure needed for the volunteers such as housing, sanitation infrastructure and supplies.

In November of this year our first volunteer cohorts moved into four different counties in the district. Two groups of the Tevel Community program are working in the Lamatole and Sadidada counties, and the two groups of the Tevel Fellowship are in Bhwassa and Dahu.

The volunteers and staff are hard at work setting up youth and women’s groups, demonstration farms, teachers clubs and public health campaigns.