Small UTSA student organization makes big impact in earthquake ravaged Nepal

Nepalese students at UTSA raise money for a new community library in their home country

Students in a Nepal village now have a place to read thanks to a partnership with the Nepalese Student Association at UTSA.

(Feb. 24, 2017) -- When Roadrunners see a need, they immediately step in and help, even when it's on the other side of the world. Members of the Nepalese Student Association at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) are seeing the fruits of their labor with the opening of a new library in a rural village in Nepal.

The student organization, consisting of just 15 members, wanted to do something to help their home country, still ravaged from a deadly 2015 earthquake. They heard there was a lack of resources for students in the Chumpy village. In response, the UTSA students collaborated with non-profit Prosperous Nepal to contribute to the creation of a community library.

The Nepalese Student Association held fundraising events on campus and sold water on the side of a busy San Antonio street. They also donated some of their own money, raising $1,100 to buy books and study materials for the library.

"There was not any public library in that area before," Dipendra Wagle, Nepalese Student Association founder and current member said. "The main purpose of establishing this library is to provide resources to students and the people who educate them."

The library will also provide vocational training to the village community.

"I think it's a proud moment to represent the UTSA family by helping the people impacted by the earthquake read, learn and prosper," said Wagle.

Students, villagers and representatives from Prosperous Nepal were at the library for its dedication and opening earlier this month.

The Nepalese Student Association at UTSA hopes to expand the library into an e-library, offering free access to critical information in literacy, likelihood skills, women's empowerment, health, agriculture and technology. The UTSA students are now accepting laptop and desktop computer donations to further the e-library project.

- Courtney Clevenger

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Learn more about the project and how you can help on the Nepalese Student Association's Facebook page.

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