Rescue and Managing Street Animals in Nepal

Dear Supporters, 

HART has recognised the importance of community education if they are going to make a long lasting difference to the lives of animals. A newly-appointed Communications Officer has started an outreach education program in schools. With over 300 schools in Pokhara, there is a lot to get done!

GVI volunteers were excited to be invited to be part of HART's Education in Schools program. Education ensures the following:

• That rabies is understood
• That people understand the need to vaccinate and sterilise their animals. This helps control the population and the spread of disease. 
• That people learn about animal rights. 

"No babies, no rabies"

The education programme talks about the issue of rabies, how to identify a rabid dog and also why vaccinating and neutering helps control the spread of rabies. The education session also talks about basic animal rights and the other benefits of controlling the dog population.  The sessions are interactive and are supported by a range of visual supports.

Students are given a questionnaire before and after the presentation. This helps to identify children's prior knowledge and to see what information they have retained from the session. It also provides some baseline data for when the program is followed up with the same students in the future. The students were positively engaged in the sessions and interacted enthusiastically throughout the program.  Many of the children have a dog at home so this made it easier to relate and respond to the topic.

We are also working with HART to identify regions where we may be able to support the medical equipment for ongoing neutering and vaccination programmes.  We will keep our donors posted once we have identified a suitable area and inform on when the project will begin.

With Gratitude,
GVI Nepal