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University of Nottingham academic rebuilds schools

Yala-Peak-Climb-for-Life-2

In support of the nation-rebuilding efforts in Nepal following the recent devastating earthquakes, The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) has successfully raised RM22,900 to be channelled to Pioneer Foundation Nepal, a local NGO.

Rallying support online via the hashtag #rebuildingnepal, a portion of the funds raised will be used to buy stationery and basic household building materials, as an initial step to rebuild Shree Rameshwary Secondary School in Bungkot, Gorkha. 

The Shree Rameshwary Secondary School serves over 700 families in the surrounding villages of the Gorkha region. There are 350 students from grade 1 to 10 with 14 teachers in this school. Preparation and fundraising will start in 2016 and the actual rebuilding will take place in 2017.

"At least 6 classrooms, library, science and computer labs were destroyed. Classes are currently conducted at temporary shelters. We choose to support this rural school as it is located at the epicentre of the first earthquake on April 25th”, explained Dr Ting Kang Nee, who is the Head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at UNMC. She was in Nepal for 'Climb For Life 2' event when the earthquake struck. 

Climb for Life 2 is a campaign initiated to raise awareness of the plights of the Penan children and funds to support their pre-school education. Funds raised from the Climb for Life 2 will support the running of two preschools in Long Itam and Long Kawi in remote Sarawak. 

Dr Ting and, Dr Yvonne Mbaki, embarked on the expedition in Nepal and reached the Yala peak (5500m) on 18th April under adverse weather conditions. They had to abandon their initial plan to climb Naya Kanga (5845m) due to unpredictable heavy snow. 

“Our campaign has been snowballing, starting with the Water4Life outreach community project last August, where we collaborated with Engineers without Borders Malaysia. We brought a team of staff and students to Long Itam, to build a gravity-fed water system to supply clean water for the villagers. At the same time, our team assisted in building a new preschool for the children.

As part of our efforts to sustainably supporting this marginalised community, we decided to reach out to them again through the Climb for Life 2 campaign, this time to fund their preschool education.

We had just returned to Kathmandu from the mountains when the earthquake struck for the first time,leading to our unplanned extended stay there. Since then we have been tireless in raising funds for Nepal to rebuild a school and some of their homes,” Dr Ting added.     

(Thumbnail image caption: Hike to Yala Peak at 6 am with 3 to 5 feet of snow)

(Article image caption: At the summit of Yala peak (5500m) Standing (from left to right): Nick Wallerstein, Yvonne Mbaki, Celina Khaw and Yap Mei Mei, Sherpa and front row (from left to right): Meggie Liao, Pema Sherpa, climbing guide, Ting Kang Nee and Chhin Cheiw)

UNMC's 15th Anniversary

One of the world's truly global universities, with campuses in Malaysia, the UK and China, 2015 marks the 15th year since setting up as UK's first full-fledged international campus in Malaysia and all three campuses continue to enrich the lives of students across the world through global education, ground-breaking research and community engagement.

More information is available from Dr Ting Kang Nee at kang-nee.ting@nottingham.edu.my;or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager on+60 (3) 8924 8746, josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my.

  -Ends-  

Notes to editors:  The University of Nottingham has 43,000 students and is ‘the nearest Britain has to a truly global university, with campuses in China and Malaysia modelled on a headquarters that is among the most attractive in Britain’ (Times Good University Guide 2014). It is one of the most popular universities in the UK among graduate employers and the winner of ‘Research Project of the Year’ at the THE Awards 2014. It is ranked in the world’s top one per cent of universities by the QS World University Rankings, and 8th in the UK by research power according to REF 2014.

The University of Nottingham in Malaysia (UNMC) is holding events throughout 2015 to celebrate 15 years as a pioneer of transnational education. Based in Semenyih, UNMC was established as the UK's first overseas campus in Malaysia and one of the first world-wide.

Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest-ever fundraising campaign, is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. 

Posted on 6th July 2015

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