When Jesuit-run Moran Memorial School (MMS) opened its doors in July 1999, it didn’t have chairs and desks. The students sat on jute sacks spread on the earthen floor.  

Today, our classrooms are equipped with furniture, and we have a library, simple science equipment, and a computer lab. The school can provide teacher orientation and training programs, thanks to organizations like Canadian Jesuits International (CJI), which in turn receives support from the Eyrie For The Children Foundation and Canadian supporters.  

In 2024, MMS will celebrate its silver jubilee. The journey has been one of ups and downs, struggles and successes, joys, and sorrows. But one thing has remained consistent: the school’s value-based education to girls and boys from poor and marginalized communities in Nepal’s easternmost Jhapa district.  

For many years, the Jesuits were present in communities in the Kathmandu Valley, central Nepal. In the late 1990s, in line with the Jesuit’s preferential option for the poor, a bold decision was made to move services from the centre to the periphery, where MMS is located today.  

The school was established for children of tea workers in a neighbouring tea estate and children from the Rajbanshi tribe who live in surrounding villages. They live tough lives —in overcrowded houses that are often without electricity and without a proper sewage system.  

The school’s goal is to build the confidence of students and to empower them so that they can help themselves and their communities. The communities we serve are often treated poorly by the upper caste; those who were not born in Nepal but have met the 15-year residency period are often denied citizenship when they submit their application to the government.  

MMS began with 80 students, who found the formal structure of a classroom rather difficult. They faced the challenge of learning in Nepali and English, neither of which was their mother tongue.  

Initially, girls didn’t even constitute half of the students. Girls have always been expected to help at home and in the fields. Today, more and more parents see the benefits of a formal education for both boys and girls, and the dropout rate has decreased. Girls now constitute 49% of the student population.  

The school promotes equality and encourages everyone to continue their studies beyond high school.  

To further encourage girls’ education, scholarships are awarded mostly to girl students whose families experience financial constraints. It costs about $300 to educate a student for one year. Most tea estate workers cannot afford to pay full school fees, but contribute a day’s wage per month, about $3.77 for a backbreaking eight-hour shift picking tea leaves.  

To provide basic education to the students, the school must make up the difference.  

Last year, over 60 students were able to continue their studies thanks to scholarships provided by CJI and the Eyrie For The Children Foundation.  

MMS alumni often visit the school to express their gratitude for the education they have received. Many have been admitted to schools of higher education, while others have found employment abroad. Our hope is that these success stories will continue for many jubilees to come and inspire the communities that we serve.