All aboard the bookmobile

Now that we’ve published our own original Nepali children’s books, we need a bookmobile to share them, and other great stories, with children in rural Nepal, strengthening our ties with the communities where they live.

During the past year, we’ve distributed copies of our first three books to our partner schools and sponsored writing workshops with teachers to find new stories for future books. Our editors and illustrators are polishing several new manuscripts that we expect to publish in 2023.

Teachers tell us that our first three books have become classroom favorites. Dog-eared copies on the shelves attest to the appeal of these engaging stories and beautiful illustrations. 

81% of our partner teachers say that our books are superior to other children’s books available.

Why a bookmobile?

Currently, whenever we need to visit a school for tasks like delivering books, meeting with staff, or joining a read-aloud session, we need to rent a truck. Each trip costs about $100. If we make two trips per week (a conservative estimate), then the truck will pay for itself in just 2 and a half years.

Transportation costs eat up a large part of our modest budget. Having our own vehicle will give us the freedom to visit schools more frequently and even expand our reach to new villages to encourage reading aloud and work closely with teachers. We also plan to use the bookmobile to share our books in urban areas like Kathmandu. 

Publishing books has been a great success. Just as important, however, has been the steadfast work of our partner organization in Nepal, Kakshyalaya, to nurture strong relationships with principals, teachers, students and their parents – especially during the pandemic. Having our own transportation will enable us to spend more time with the people we serve in more than 40 rural communities.

Not your ordinary bookmobile

Our bookmobile is going to log a lot of miles on unpaved, rutted roads, slowly climbing and bouncing its way up mountainsides. To access the remote, hard-to-reach places off the beaten track that many of our schools call home, we need a 4x4. (Below, read an eyewitness account of what it’s like to make a typical trip.)

Donate Today: 

Help Launch Our Bookmobile 

The vehicle costs $25,000. 

We’ve raised $15,000 from private donors and need just $10,000 more.

Help us reach our goal!

Your support is crucial to strengthening our relationships with children, teachers and parents in rural communities of the Kathmandu Valley. Thank you for helping us spread the joy of reading! 

This is the road that Karen took

One of our board members, Karen Costello, recently visited Nepal for the first time, with her husband, Malcolm. They rode in the 4x4 pictured at the top of this page. We plan to purchase a similar vehicle. 

Notice the road in the background (a close-up is below), typical of rural Nepal: unpaved, clinging to a hillside and featuring hairpin turns.

To visit Shree Jebrang Basic School in Nuwakot, we started out at around 7:30am from Kathmandu. It was a bumpy, crazy, three-hour drive that seems to be like almost every drive in Nepal. It wasn’t the distance that took so long but the condition of the roads. Finally, we arrived at the principal’s home. He and his wife graciously prepared dal bhat for all of us. It is truly extra special to be welcomed by Nepali folks in their homes. 

—Karen Costello, Santi School Board member

About The Santi School Project and Kakshyalaya:

Since 2019, we’ve trained 225 teachers from 49 schools

• Together with our partner organization in Nepal, Kakshyalaya, we’ve set up 107 classroom reading corners as well. 
• Kakshyalaya will deliver our new books to our partner schools in Nuwakot and Kavre districts. 
• These are poor, rural communities located in hard-to-reach areas often overlooked by charities. We specifically chose to help these schools because they have limited resources (many of them did not have a library before joining our program) and student test scores were among the lowest in the districts.

The Story Behind Our Stories 

We find great stories 

At workshops as part of our read-aloud training, teachers explore what makes a good children's book, practice writing and storyboard techniques, and create their own stories.

We turn them into books and publish them

Talented Nepali illustrators and book editors bring the teachers’ stories to life on the page.

We give these books to schools

We create classroom reading corners (a bookshelf, carpet, cushions and low tables) and stock them with books.

We train teachers on the value of children’s literature and reading aloud 

Our multi-year teacher training programs focus on using children’s books as a literacy teaching tool and on strategies for incorporating books into the existing curriculum and school routines.