Thanks to a generous donation from Latter-day Saint Charities, the children of the Special Education and Rehabilitation Center (SERC) School in Chapagaun, Lalitpur, Nepal have a safe and appropriate place to play.
The school, run by founder and president of SERC Kalpana Basnet and her husband Anish, serves 80 children with a range of disabilities. Students benefit from educational programs specially designed to optimize their individual abilities as well as physical or occupational therapy to meet their individual needs.
The new playground was inaugurated on 22 September, the 10th anniversary of the founding of SERC, with a ribbon cutting ceremony and speech by Gajendra Mahargjun, the Mayor of the Godavari Municipality. Other speakers included Uddhab Bahadur Khatri, the principle of the local government school where some SERC students have been successfully mainstreamed, and Blaine VanDenBerghe representing Latter-day Saint Charities.
“We are delighted to provide this facility and support the work of SERC,” said VanDenBerghe. “We believe deeply in the intrinsic value of each child, that each is a child of God, and we are committed to helping each reach his or her full potential.”
Highlighting the program were song and dance performances by the children who anticipated many happy hours of play.
Latter-day Saint Charities is supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and has provided assistance to millions of people in 195 countries since 1985, regardless of race, nationality or religion.