INTRODUCTION

Chal Chamkilo is a Shoe Polish Fundraiser for Rural Students Empowerment Program and Debate Movement Expansion. Through the project, DNN provided debate training in five rural villages of Nepal, most of which have been heavily affected by the earthquake in April 2015. DNN also utilized the funds in projects and activities that directly help in stabilizing the debate movement of Nepal in terms of sustainability.

This section deals with the first two important aspects of the project – shoe polish fundraiser and rural students empowerment program. During the fundraising, the trainers and the volunteers to DNN polished the shoes of people, who pass by stalls positioned at several shopping malls and monuments throughout Kathmandu in the last two weekends of August 2016. The volunteers from DNN and Bridgewater Debate Association, which is our collaborative partner for fundraising, pitched the cause of the event with the people and raise a small amount of donation from each of them. We got supported by hundreds of people including CNN Hero Anuradha Koirala who not only donated for the cause but also encouraged our team to keep doing what we have been doing.

From the fundraising event organized in malls like City Centre, KL Tower and Bhatbhateni and Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu organized in 2016 August, we were able to raise a total of NPR 89,650 (eighty-nine thousand six hundred and fifty only). The amount is equivalent to around USD 840. Secondly, we were fortunate enough to find an international donor Mr Ramon Jimenez from Madrid, Spain who contributed to this noble cause with a total of 8508 USD which was equivalent to NPR 897239.78. Thus the total funds raised out of the target 1,00,000 NPR was 986889.78 NPR.

The fund received were proportionately distributed to:

A. Distribution of sports/stationary materials in the earthquake affected/ needy communities in Nepal. We did it in the communities around the schools mentioned below.

B. Provision of career counselling workshop and debate plus public speaking training to the students followed by organizing clubs in the following schools.

C. Establishment of a fund to help DNN lead debate movement in a financially sustainable manner.