CDM Smith Restores Libraries in Nepal’s 12 USAID-Rebuilt Schools

BOSTON—CDM Smith is proud to deliver books and tablets to several Nepal schools this fall following a successful fundraising initiative. In celebration of Inter­na­tional Literacy Day, CDM Smith distributed books and tablets at the Adarsha Secondary School, Bhaktapur at its library on September 8, 2021.

In support of the United States Agency for Inter­na­tional Development’s (USAID) initiative to build back better and safer, CDM Smith has been providing engineering and program management services for the Nepal Recon­struc­tion Engineering Services Project. The project includes recon­struc­tion of 12 schools—three primary and nine secondary schools―in four districts ravaged by the 2015 earthquake: Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Sindhuli and Makawanpur. These modern, fully equipped and furnished schools lack library books.

Rajeev K. Thapa, CDM Smith’s Country Repre­sen­ta­tive for Nepal, said, “When CDM Smith heard that the schools had no budget for the books in the newly built libraries, it stepped up to help. We launched a GoFundMe campaign and raised more than $15,000 primarily from CDM Smith employees and friends. With CDM Smith’s corporate match, we surpassed our $30,000 goal to purchase 7,000 books and 63 tablet computers. More than 6,000 students and teachers will benefit from the books and tablets provided.”

Thapa added since this year’s Inter­na­tional Literacy Day is being celebrated with the theme “Literacy for a human-centered recovery: Narrowing the digital divide,” the team decided to purchase tablets for the libraries in addition to the books.

In 2015, a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake ravaged Nepal. It resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries, flattening entire villages in the earthquake-affected areas. More than 8,000 schools were damaged. With the financial and technical support from USAID, CDM Smith has been serving Nepalese communities to rebuild resilient and sustainable infra­struc­ture.

CDM Smith is a privately owned engineering and construc­tion firm providing legendary client service and smart solutions in water, environment, trans­porta­tion, energy and facilities. Passionate about our work and invested in each other, we are inspired to think and driven to solve the world's envi­ron­men­tal and infra­struc­ture challenges.