After months of preparation with a range of activities -- from application form design to lots of hard work collecting application data in the field -- we are finally ready to start evaluating applications for financial assistance from the students in Nepal.

We have tentatively decided to focus our resources away from Kavre and into other areas of Nepal. This was partly due to the challenges our volunteers faced in completing the required reporting and applications on time in Kavre. It is not uncommon for our volunteers to face many unexpected challenges that prevent fulfilling the basic requirements for our work in a given location, despite the best efforts of our volunteers.

The selection committee is busy organizing the applications, scanning documents, and distributing materials to the volunteers we are serving on the selection committee. Each application will be reviewed thoroughly by the committee to select the most deserving new candidates and to extend the financial assistance of existing NCEF students if they are still in need financially each year.

We also introduced a new way for the area coordinators to rate the applications they are submitting to the committee. The coordinators could provide a score between 0 and 100 indicating their level of recommendation for the applicant. Our initial look at the applications suggests that most of the recommendation scores are at 100; this either suggests that we need to train the coordinators better on how to fill this field, or that most applicants are needy and are, in fact, highly recommended.

Ultimately, there are a tremendous number of children in Nepal who need help with their school expenses. What we have to offer these children is some financial assistance along with some support and encouragement, a combination that, over the years, has shown itself to have a tremendous impact on the lives of these children. This is all thanks to even the smallest donations from donors like you. We thank you for your continued support to these deserving children. We will bring the full results of the student selection next month.