Beginning in 2014
Min had been working in education development in Nepal for more than 20 years before he met Janie, an American university student studying child development. Janie came to Nepal for a research project on development and social changes as part of her studies.
Janie’s search for more information on educational interventions in Nepal led her to Min.
When Min sent Janie to a small rural village in Dailekh (Min’s birthplace) for her research, she didn’t know what to expect.
But after falling in love with the people and the schools, and seeing the standard of education in the classroom, she was hooked. Janie promised to come back to Nepal and use her education to make a difference.
Founded in 2017
Janie and Min stayed in touch over the following years. Janie finally returned to Nepal in 2017. Janie and Min met again at a coffee shop in Kathmandu and openly shared their ideas for changing education in rural Nepal. With Min’s extensive experience and knowledge about education policy and Janie’s expertise in effective teaching methods they realized they could be the perfect team.
It was a huge risk for them both to quit their current jobs to open an organization. But, they saw a chance to do something incredible so within 6 months Min had quit his job, Janie had become a full-time unpaid fundraising and the project was underway.
Combining both their strength’s, Janie and Min built an organization that is revolutionizing what teaching means in rural Nepal.
Making A Difference
From 2018, ECC Nepal started partnering with government schools to improve their teaching methods, and ultimately the quality of education. We started with just 3 schools and 9 classrooms but by the end of 2019 we had 21 schools and 65 partner classrooms.
In 2021 ECC opened its first library at a partner school. After instant success, we opened 6 more libraries in rapid succession.
In 2024, the ECC team took our their biggest project to date. We opened our own school! Sapana Community School provides quality-education, food, and a safe learning space to children in rural Nepal growing up in extreme poverty. The school will serve as a model and resource center for improving education across all rural Nepal.