About Gujre

The village chosen for our community development programme is Gurje village. Gurje is situated 20 km north of Kathmandu City, just outside the Kathmandu Valley. It is a rural community, relying crops such as millet and corn. Cultivating the land is difficult in the hills and most of the crops produced in Gurje are consumed by the local population rather used as a source of income. Old agricultural methods still dominate the villages which are both time consuming and inefficient.

Nepal is made up of more than 100 castes and ethnic groups. The population of Gurje is made up of mainly Tamang people, a 'low' caste, who originated in Tibet and who have mostly settled in the hilly areas of Nepal.

Of Nepal's population of 27 million, 90% rely on agriculture for their income. Of this nearly one third of rural families are living below the poverty line of less than one dollar a day. Despite Gurje's proximity to Kathmandu the difference in lifestyle is vast. As the roads continue to improve the boundaries of the city will get closer and closer to Gurje. This urban sprawl will bring high prices and a cost of living that this rural village will not be able to support.

As rural life is reliant on the family unit working the family land formal education is often low on the list of priorities. The education facilities in the majority of Nepal's remote villages are lacking. They receive little funding and finding qualified, motivated teachers and staff is often a challenge. People's attitudes toward education is slowly changing and parents realise that the only hope for their children to have hope of a brighter future is through education. 

What Gurje may lack in material wealth and facilities it makes up for in its clean, pollution free air and amazing vistas of the Himalayas. There is a quality to the life in Gurje that cannot be values, the relaxed pace, the close knit community and the safe environment is as valuable a commodity a children's home could hope for.