The much-awaited results of the Government Skills Training Exams are out and our graduates achieved best marks. For our schools in India, light relaxations of the Covid-10 measures were implemented during the last few weeks.

Graduates of our professional skills training courses took the Government Exams just before the lockdown in March 2020. Good news reach us before Christmas: They all passed the exams with best grades. We congratulate the graduates and wish them all the best for their future.

In recent weeks, relaxations of the Covid-19 measures have been announced for our schools in India. For instance, to support the students from grades nine and ten in their final exam preparation, they have been given permission to access their respective campuses, where they also receive help with revisions and remaining questions. Younger students continue to be taught in distance learning. We very much hope to be able to return to normal operations in the near future.

Those interested in Nepal who missed the opportunity to watch Eliza Kubarska’s impressive documentary at the cinema can now catch up online.

“Eliza Kubarska’s film evokes the majesty of the alpine world in breathtaking images, but also draws attention to the problems of a globalised world in which tradition and spirituality are at risk of being lost.” Irene Genhart, Movie News (Translated by Usthi).

The documentary THE WALL OF SHADOWS shows a Sherpa family breaking a taboo and climbing one of the holiest mountains to earn the money for their son’s education. They accompany an expedition on the east face of Kumbhakarna, which has never been climbed before.

The movie will be available in Switzerland as video on demand on various streaming platforms from Friday, 18th December. Click here to stream on Vimeo. From 15th January, the film will also be available for purchase on DVD, for example on CEDE.ch.

The Usthi team can warmly recommend this powerful film to anyone interested in the daily life of Nepalese Sherpas and the breathtaking summits of the Himalayas.

We wish our supporters a happy holiday season and a good start into the new year.

For many, this year’s festive season will be a little different than usual. Whether you gather in a small circle around the Christmas tree or toast the New Year via Skype – Usthi wishes you and your loved ones a happy and peaceful holiday season.

For 2021, we wish you good luck and good health and look forward to continuing our commitment to young people in India and Nepal together with you in the New Year.

In her latest book “Social Enterpreneurs and Change Makers”, Brindarica Bose tells Usthi’s story, among others. Founder Kurt Bürki and Executive Director Alessandra Grosse shared their thoughts on Usthi with her.

The book on “Social Enterpreneurs and Change Makers” presents seven non-profit initiatives from the USA, India, Africa and Switzerland. One of them is Usthi. In an interview with the founder of the foundation, Kurt Bürki, and the executive director, Alessandra Grosse, readers learn their thoughts on Usthi’s history and visions.

Those interested can purchase the book here. According to the author, 100% of the proceeds will be donated to charitable organisations. We are very happy to be part of this project and thank Brindarica Bose for her commitment.

Usthi looks back on an eventful year. We are impressed by the commitment of our local partners in India and Nepal and overwhelmed by the great solidarity that Usthi experienced again this year.

With new faces on the board of trustees, Usthi started the new year with renewed enthusiasm. But soon the foundation was facing its first challenges. The global spread of Covid-19 forced the Usthi team to work from home and in spring 2020 some of the local projects had to be temporarily paused.

Many families of the school children in Ananda, Hyderabad and Penthakata temporarily lost their income due to the lockdown. Thanks to generous emergency relief donations, Usthi was able to provide food aid for severely affected families. The local partners and employees made extraordinary contributions to continue ensuring access to quality education and skills training, access to medical care and protection against violence and human trafficking.

They impressed with their flexibility to implement the projects even under difficult conditions. As soon as it was made possible, the projects were continued in the best practicable way. During months of school closures, they provided the students with worksheets for self-study, recorded lessons on video and held tutoring sessions over the phone.

While in Europe the Covid-19 case numbers are increasing again, they are fortunately still declining in India. This made it possible to grant the upper classes access to their schools for exam preparation. In Nepal, too, the development of the new Usthi education project made further progress. Teaching there is currently taking place in small groups. Usthi hopes that the development will soon allow all grades to resume classroom teaching.

Usthi is extremely grateful for the great support we received this year. The Usthi team wishes you a merry holiday season and a good start into 2021.