David Phoenix marks 20 years since his initial Nepal trip, impacting thousands with free education and school partnerships.
He went back to Nepal sixteen times after that initial visit. Over time, they created nineteen school partnerships. The British Council gave grants to support this work. Teachers from Wales and Nepal visited each other’s schools.
Kids then learned about life in both countries. Mr. Phoenix founded a school for brick children. It officially opened in 2002. Since then, about 3000 kids received free education.
The school moved locations ten years ago. It’s now called Kopila Nepa. In 2016, he talked to Street Child. He wanted to expand Kopila’s reach.
They planned to add smaller schools near brick factories, in the Kathmandu Valley. By 2019, eight satellite schools were built. Each school offered free education. They served twenty-five children each.
Mr. Phoenix was happy to mark twenty years since his Nepal trip. He saw progress at Kopila Nepa and the new schools. This made a huge difference to many children. These kids work in Kathmandu’s brick fields with their parents.
More schools, like these, will hopefully be added to help even more children. They hope more kids making bricks can attend school. There are about fifty thousand of them. During his visit, Mr. Phoenix toured Kopila Nepa and two satellite schools.
He liked the education quality at each site. Anita Shrestha manages Kopila Nepa and the schools. Bryan Jones, a friend from Llangollen, joined Mr. Phoenix. Bryan runs a charity called Katkando. He started it two years before the trip. The Leader reported this on February 15, 2020.