Mansehra Region comprises of two districts i.e. Mansehra and Battagram. District Mansehra comprises of three tehsils (sub-district) i.e. Mansehra, Oghi and Balakot. District Battagram consists of 2 tehsils i.e. Battagram and Allai. District Mansehra is spread over an area of 4,579 sq. km and district Battagram covers an area of 1417 sq. km. Mansehra district is flanked with high mountains varying in elevation from 2000 meters in the south to over 4500 meters above sea level in the north. District Battagram is also surrounded with mountains elevating the district to 4000 meters above the sea level.
The SRSP/Learning for Life (LfL) community based schools are situated in both these districts. It is a hilly region with treacherous roads winding around the huge and lofty offshoots of the great Himalayan System. The Oct 8th incident has only worsened the situation leading to wide cracks in the roads, land sliding and shattered life.
When SRSP community based schools turned into mere piles of debris the LfL and International Development Fund for Reconstruction (IDRF) and other donors agreed to fund the reconstruction of the schools in the area and thus help the poor communities in reviving education systems in their areas.

The process of reconstruction started with the damage assessment of the schools by the School Monitoring Officers which showed that 11 schools collapsed while the remaining were severely damaged and could not be recommended for further use. After the donor agencies agreed to reconstruct the schools, a process of dialogues was initiated with the communities. The LfL/SRSP schools’ project is a truly grassroots project as they are planned, implemented and managed not by the top policy makers but by the people themselves. That is why it was important to involve the communities in the process as they are the land donors. 2536 sq.ft of land has been donated by each community for the reconstruction of a 3-room school building with 2 toilets and 1-room health centre with a toilet. It is note worthy here that these donations have been made regardless of any tangible favour even though the poverty status of the region has been elevated after the earthquake. This involvement is a key factor in ensuring that basic education is provided to the disadvantaged.
The SRSP/IDRF schools are located in districts covering about 3 Tehsil (sub-districts), 8 union councils and 12 villages. These school buildings after reconstruction will house nearly 600 rural students providing them access to quality education at their doorstep. 12 teachers (7 male and 5 female) have been provided an opportunity for economic empowerment while 72 rural women and men are being given political empowerment. However, the schools lie at great distances as mentioned in the table given on page 3.
The reconstruction of the schools was initiated simultaneously at all the 12 sites. However, the recent torrential rains have lead to slowing down the process. The present situation has been mentioned in the table attached with the report.

• Strengthening the Rural Communities
• Teachers Training Courses

SRSP had conducted a teachers training with the collaboration of the National Institute of Research and Education for the teachers of the 12 schools. Training Needs Assessment was carried out. The purpose of this was to identify the needs of the teachers so as to develop a relevant training module for them.
It was found imperative to introduce the teachers with child friendly teaching methodologies with specific emphasis on the psycho-social aspects. This is because people in Mansehra region have witnessed great devastation and the demise of their set-ups before their eyes. Hence, the introduction of activity based learning would assist the shift from conventional methods to a new paradigm that would be within their cultural context.
It is foreseen that through these training courses for the teachers would help increase their marketability and would provide the rural women and men with economic opportunities.

• Village Education Committee Training Courses

The project also aims at the political and social empowerment of the rural men and women through the platform of the Village Education Committee (VEC). Each school has a VEC with six-member (ideally 3 men and 3 women). These are responsible for the monitoring and management of the schools at the grass-root level.
Training course for the VECs was also conducted with special emphasis on their roles and responsibilities.

• Problems Faced during Reconstruction of the Schools
• Problems Encountered in Construction
• Accessibility and Mobility to the School Sites
• Hard Terrain
• Weather Conditions
• Availability of Labour
• Availability of Water

During the earthquake all the water supply facilities were damaged and have not been repaired until now in the rural remote villages of the earthquake hit areas. This means that the maximum supply of water for the reconstruction is hampered unless the community people fetch it from the streams in the distant areas. This job is mainly done by the community men and women and takes time as they have to walk the long distances due narrow tracks where vehicles can not be accessed.
Often the engineers have to install water pipes from the upstream areas to the construction sites to facilitate water supply but this is time consuming and also costs additional costs.

• Approach for the Future
• Linkage Development

With the reconstruction of a proper infrastructure for the school, an increase in the enrolment is being expected. The presence of one teacher would not be enough. More trained teachers are required but the communities are not in a state to afford the salary of a second teacher. To resolve this problem linkage development of the school with government and non-government organizations that focus on education is being fostered.

Health Centres

The establishment of the health centre in areas where people have little access to health facilities is a mark in the history of such areas. For the time it is planned that these health centres will be used as hubs for raising health awareness amongst the rural communities. However, looking at the state of the health facilities in the areas it is suggested that if the health centres could be developed in to local dispensaries or Basic Health Units the rural communities will have easy access to another basic facility.
For instance, daughter-in-law of a women VEC member in Hari Sharolian (Mansehra) had given birth to her 4th kid when the project team met her (a week before the submission of this report). She was on bed and had not recovered well. She said that there were health facilities in their village and she had given birth to all her children in the presence of a local mid-wife. She could not be accessed to a doctor because the nearest basic health unit was at a distance of an hour from the village. There are no link roads to the village and people have to carry patients on their backs to the doctor. The BHU is not fully equipped and for major problems people have to access the hospital in the urban areas which is 4-5 hours away from their village. Thus, emergency cases often suffer bad luck.
If the health centres can be linked to the government health department or other organizations working on health, first aid and some medical equipment can be provided in the health centres. Community women can be trained as Traditional Birth Attendants.   

IDRF Schools: The detail list of IDRF schools under reconstruction after earthquake are as below in table:

Note: In the above table each schools construction consists of three class rooms with two latrines, one health center with attached toilet. Under the IDRF reconstruction project two class rooms with two toilets were funded, the additional construction of two rooms and two toilets is funded by another partner.