Das Berufsbildungzentrum in Jhapa

Since 2002 NRA is supporting an adult training centre in the south-east of Nepal. The goal of this project is to provide more knowledge in agriculture and crafts to increase the variety of produced goods and tap new sources of income for the local community. Attached to the project are several agricultural cooperatives who grow and sell there products in colaboration. Thus they are able to support each other and, on the other handside to it is easier to approach new markets for examlpe in India to sell their goods.
	Besides financing the school- and in the last year a hostel building NRA supported the project with smaller projects as well. Due to the rising number of students new land had to be purchased and cultivated. The students learn how to prepare the ground with special plants as natural fertiliser for the following cultivation of medicinal and cosmetic plants. The huge and still growing demand of herbs for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries is a very welcomed source of income. The domestication of these plants gives not only a living to the people, but also prevents extinction of plants in the Himalaya. Efforts are made to ensure certify a constantly high quality of the products. This is specially important for products for the pharmaceutical industry.
In 2004 and 2005 NRA supported the project with seeds and fertiliser as well as some machines for further processing of the plants, for example a solar driven fryer or a machine to form pills. This machine is shown on the picture. The dryer allows the farmers to sell their vegetables and herbs in times, when there is no harvesting and thus usually no source of income. The project is situated in a region most affected by the maoist insurgency. Nevertheless the project is still running. The cooperatives are working very well, only the classes could not be held as planned.