Community development is a challenge for many reasons but the biggest challenge faced was trying to change the mindset and attitude of the community. While many asked for education for their children, predominantly the women, Gurje is a rural village and also rely on their children's help in the fields and on the farm. It was important that we first taught the parents the value of education and the many benefits and options it would bring to every aspect of their children's lives.

While most of the villagers rely on agriculture as their source of income they are still using primitive farming practices which results in their food production is only sufficient for 6-8 months, resulting in malnourished children and villagers. Grain is often used to make alcohol, exacerbating this situation.

It was for all these reasons that Umbrella was able to choose these projects to get involved in:

Gurje Health Post

No development project will work without the full support and backings of the people who you are working for and with. Before any work started on developing the Gurje Village area Umbrella met with the people; the community leaders, the farmers, the women and the parents. From these meetings two areas presented themselves as being the two main areas of concern for the community. These are; education and health care. 

Thanks to an extremely generous private donation, through our partner organisation at the time SolHimal, a health post was constructed to provide primary health care for Gurje Village. The health post is manned by two qualified nurses who deal with the majority of cases presented, with the remaining serious cases being referred to a partner hospital in Kathmandu. Umbrella consulted with the District Health Office during planning and partnered with Community Action Nepal (CAN) to manage the health post. CAN have extensive experience in managing remote Health Posts and this expertise is now in place to help the inhabitants of Gurje and the surrounding villages.

The health post also includes a training hall, which has been used to educate the community on various health care practices and issues such as first aid, hygiene, nutrition, sexual health and family planning.

In 2013, Umbrella's projects in Gurje village came to an end. After 7 years of involvement and community support, Gurje village and the surrounding communities have come a long way and Umbrella are proud of what has been achieved in terms of agriculture, education, health care, women's empowerment and awareness. Nowadays, the health post is being run and funded by CAN. Sunrise, an Australian NGO, have also begun working in Gurje with a view to improving local schools and education quality in the area.