Paul Josephson as his friend’s mom gives him a tika, a red mark on his forehead, for Dashain, a hundu Nepali festival
Town of Webb School graduate Paul Josephson has found his place in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, having served as Education and Rural Development Coordinator for Saprinu, a nongovernmental organization (NGO), since the fall of 2012. Saprinu, founded in 2010, is dedicated to providing access to affordable quality schools with a mission to educate, equip, and inspire students to value truth, think critically, and live responsibly and fully.
“Investing in quality education is the best investment one can make. Everything else- the rest of one’s life- depends on the quality of education one receives as a child,” Josephson said.
Paul Josephson in the Himalayas
While Saprinu’s main focus is on education transformation, it also works toward women’s empowerment through literacy and skill development, youth empowerment and small business and local NGO development, he added.
Based in Nuwakot District, six hours northwest of Kathmandu, Josephson rents an earth and stone house in the village of Archale, where he works.
He also rents a small house in Kathmandu, where he travels for monthly meetings.
Paul talks with Nepalese boys at the school in Archale
Saprinu takes a grassroots approach to education, he said, treating villagers as equals.
Once relationships are established, staff members implement “appreciative inquiry” and listen to what villagers want and help facilitate their dreams into realities.
Saprinu will be working with the government-sponsored school in Archale, providing teacher training and workshops, improving physical infrastructure, introducing extracurricular classes and programs like physical education, music and art, and help- ing to fill the school with resources like books, computers, games, art supplies and science lab equipment.
This year, the staff will work with Seed, a Nepali NGO which specializes in local, environmentally- friendly building techniques such as passive solar heating, green roofs, water collection and composting toilets, to repair school infrastructure.
Local men and women will be trained and employed to repair the school, which serves preschool children from age three to grade 10 coed students. As a national policy, education in Nepal is provided free of charge. Saprinu intends to help Archale residents create a community resource center to house a library, computer lab and meeting place.
The organization plans to work in Archale for five years, or until systems are in place and independently sustainable. It will then expand to other Nepali villages and perhaps go international.
“For me, international development, education and empowerment work is extraordinarily rewarding. Realizing that we are all humans and equals, but that so many people around the world are treated as less than equals is one of the major motivations for doing this work,” Josephson said.
“Many kids walk over an hour to come to school every morning, sit in crumbling classrooms that have only wooden benches and a chalkboard, walk an hour back home, and help their families do farm chores before eating and going to bed.”
“But, there’s so much life in their eyes! They are excited to come to school and so eager to learn, but are so unfortunately let down by the poor education system.
“Improving the quality of education, especially for girls, is a huge part of my job, and a major factor which makes my job so enjoyable. It gives me strength and hope of a much brighter future.”
He invites all to check out the website saprinu.org or to contact him for more information at: pauldjosephson@gmail.com.
“Like us on Facebook and make a donation to Saprinu. Every donation helps and a small contribution from your side goes a long way toward transforming education in villages here in Nepal,” Josephson said.
He is the son of Patty and Dan Josephson and the grandson of Dave and Carol Clark, all of Old Forge.
