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Notre Dame School in Bandipur: Reminiscing About Notre Dame
Original Article Published in the Sunday Post March 17, 2002 by Khila Sharma

*Special Note: "Seto Gunras (White Rhododendron)" is the school owned and operated by our co-founder, Dil Kumari. It's mentioning has been hi-lighted and underlined in the article.

The school, which was similar to Notre Dame Schools in 35 countries all over the world, was the only school of that kind in Nepal. Although Mother Teresa Gerharinger of Germany, the founder of SSND, opened Notre Dame schools in the 19th century, aiming to provide quality education for girls, Notre Dame Bandipur admitted children and job seekers irrespective of sex and faith. The nuns' services was above suspicion of proselytization, which some people were rather skeptical of. They used to say that it does not matter whatever faith we practise, the destination is one but the routes are different. Even when we start a pilgrimage from our place of abodes to one shrine, it's impossible for all mankind to follow the same route.

The establishment of Notre Dame gave Bandipur the revival of its prosperity. People from neighboring villages started to acquire homesteads in Bandipur. It was a resort for those who had abandoned Bandipur in its difficult days. The tenants were cramped for space in a once-depopulated town. Those landlords who procrastinated to renovate their houses were missing the boat.

The school had several projects concentrated on the overall welfare of the Bandipurites. The locals were the beneficiaries of its policy to encourage them to open hostels for the Notre Dame students. The sisters were concerned about the care and education children were getting for free in Seto Gunras (White Rhododendron), a separate childcare center. There was a free Bhaibahini Kaksha (Sibling Class) for the children who were underachieving in the school classes. The Egg Project targeted at the academic success of the children studying at various schools in Bandipur. The reason was that undernourished children couldn't achieve well. The Notre Dame Agriculture Project was successful in providing plenty of dairy products, chicken, vegetables and fruit for the staff. The ultimate goal of the project was to make the supply sufficient at least for the whole community in Bandipur. The Higher Secondary Education Project was an exemplary endeavour to give science education in well-equipped classrooms and laboratories. One cannot find a match in terms of the infrastructure in a location like Bandipur, but now it's going to be covered in lichen and moss.

The way the sisters worked was really worth learning. Had there been two high officials like Sister Janet, the Notre Dame principal, in each district, Nepal would have had an entirely different role in the world theater. They were in an alien land far away from their homeland, not for earning but for charity. They did not have a family to work for. But, when there was a need, they did not even hesitate to wash the dishes that the staff ate and drank out of. It is an example of high respect for labor in a culture where cooking, washing and cleaning are attached to women and peons.

Unfortunately Notre Dame is now a daydream in the eyes of the Bandipurites. The second nightmare of Bandipur began last year when the Maoist insurgency did not spare Notre Dame. It seemed that they wanted to use Notre Dame as a symbol for shutting down all the other private schools in the region. Unlike other private schools, it was easy to shut down but difficult to reopen.

But the locals still hope that the closure is not for good and all.

If rumor holds water, the intention of the local PABSON (Private and Boarding School Organization of Nepal) delegates who were on a so-called mission to reopen the private schools in the region too seemed doubtful about Notre Dame. At a negotiating table, when the rebellious student representatives insisted that reopening all the priavte schools was not justifiable because people had not demanded so except as regards to Notre Dme, the PABSON people were irresponsive. It seemed that they were tight-lipped. Why didn't they want to negotiatie a settlement to give at least Notre Dame the go-ahead when there was a green signal? Why didn't even the "terrorists" respect the people's genuine appeal, which they were well aware of?

The principal used to say that they had been working in Bandipur in response to a lot of calls the people had been making in order to restore the economy, natural and cultural heritage of the beautiful place. The sisters, whose ultimate goal was to make the locals self-reliant in education and agriculture, had been working out of philanthropic motives. Their predetermination to start a higher secondary program on agriculture science was diverted to pure science on request of the locals and the then minister for education. Though the sisters had seen the need of agricultural development in Bandipur, their program was barred even by the unavailability of 10 2 agriculture curriculum in Higher Secondary Education Board.

Bandipur enjoyed a renaissance when a group of Japanese sisters in association with American sisters belonging to a Roman Catholic congregation called School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) opened an incredibly good school there. The sisters with the support of the staff and the community worked day and night to raise the people's spirirts there. THey knocked on the doors and collected children from their doorsteps in the early days of Notre Dame School in the mid eighties. Many locals donated houses and land to the school. The sisters offered a lot of scholarships to the children who could not afford Notre Dame education. Any child living in Bandipur and having lost his/her father was entitled to a Notre Dame scholarship. The locals were given the top priority both for scholarships and employment opportunities. Widows and under-priveleged groups were always at the forefront.

When the country was expecting a peaceful solution to the rebellion, the Bandipurites were very optimistic about the resurrection of Notre Dame education there. When the Biratnagar conference of the student wing of the Maoist party passed a resolution not to attack non-government schools run by communities not for profit but for service, it raised hopes in Bandipur a little high because only a school like Notre Dame could meet those criteria. Moreover, the rate of the fees charged at Notre Dame was minimal compared to the quality and facility it was providing. The scholarship scheme had enabled a great number of paupers to afford Notre Dame education. Many direct and indirect job opportunities for the locals in Bandipur could be seen in the hustle and bustle of the town when there was Notre Dame.

The Maoists could have let Notre Dame function and referred to it as an ideal model of private schooling. Isn't there any room for private schools in a communist rule? Don't they have patience to listen to the genuine voice of the people? If they had seen any wrong at Notre Dame for the welfare of the poor, why didn't they show their discernment to put forward a list of their recommendations? What was wrong of the sisters without a household if they had made any mistake due to misinformation or lack of information in a country where everything is strange to them?

A state of emergency has been declared in the country to restore law and order. Let's pray, "May the emergency not throw cold water on the hopes of the people like the Bandipurites." In the present situation, the glimmering hope of reopening Notre Dame again as a Japanes school does not seem to bear fruit until the Maoists come with a substantial change in their view of assessing such schools or they are wiped off the face of Nepal.