Senior Works with the Rukmini Foundation to Rebuild School in Nepal


Senior Janie Weber raised money for the Rukmini Foundation to help rebuild the Shikharapur School in Nepal after the devastating earthquakes. 

As a “token of appreciation,” her name was carved into the Rukmini Wall on the Rukmini floor of the recently completed new school. "Words cannot even describe how honored I am to be represented on the Rukmini Wall, especially because I feel that I owe them the thanks instead of the other way around,” Janie expressed.
 
The Rukmini Foundation’s founder, Bibhuti Aryal, wrote Janie a personal email earlier this month to thank her for her support and sent her pictures of the etching of her name. He wrote, “I wanted to send you our most heartfelt thanks for your support in 2015. After the earthquakes, we were able to provide immediate relief supplies like food, shelter supplies, feminine hygiene products, and other necessities that allowed the hardest hit families to get back on their feet. While the immediate relief was critical, so was the need to rebuild one of our partner schools, Shikharapur – a key educational institution in the area, which was totally devastated by the earthquakes. Luckily for us and the community, we have supporters like yourself that came to our aid when we needed it the most. Not only were we able to build a temporary school (made of bamboo) in just two weeks to ensure that the kids had a place to go to school once the government declared school back in session.”
 
Janie learned about the foundation and its cause through her sister Margaret ’14 and Senior School history teacher Michael-Ann Cerniglia, and started her work with the foundation the spring of her sophomore year. “I helped my sister host a Chipotle fundraiser dinner back in 2014 at Sewickley Academy, and from there, I decided I wanted to be involved with the organization,” Janie said. She started running the foundation’s Instagram account that summer, and hosted a fundraiser dinner and talk with Bibhuti at the Sewickley Presbyterian Church in October 2015, where she raised over $1,000 to help fund the earthquake relief efforts in Nepal.

“I wanted to help the Rukmini Foundation in a kind of different way. I wanted to target students and education versus fundraising because I believe that can be a more powerful way to spark change,” Janie said. “Without the help of Ms. Cerniglia, my sister, and Sewickley Academy, I would not have realized that such an inspiring organization that helps to educate girls in Nepal was centered in Pittsburgh!”

Although Janie did not get to travel to Nepal (she hopes to one day), she was able to realize how much she can help without physically traveling to a specific area of impact. “There is so much we can do in Pittsburgh to help in Nepal, and I think that is a very important message,” Janie said. “My primary goal is to teach younger students the importance of the work of the Rukmini Foundation. I hope that the Rukmini Foundation continues a relationship with Sewickley Academy.”


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