While many governments in the Himalayan region have spent large sums of money to extend education infrastructure and offer free education, children in many areas must still travel long distances to attend school.

Going to school so far away from home is detrimental to students’ health. Children often catch colds from the long walk, especially in winter. The schools often cannot afford enough fuel to boil water for all the students so, if the water is contaminated, the students suffer from persistent diarrhea.

Traveling long distances to school also creates gender inequality and is detrimental to family livelihoods. Many families cannot afford to let all their children go to school, as they need help herding, fetching water and fuel, and making crafts, especially if they are to pay for food for the children while at school. Thus, families tend to withdraw their female children and have them maintain the household while their parents tend the herds and their brothers attend school. This creates extreme gender inequality. Finally, even when rural children do attend school, they never have the opportunity to engage in science and engineering exercises pertinent to their daily lives.

One Earth Designs works to build schools, develop applied science and engineering curricula revolving around local issues and employing local materials, and write educational materials that teach and inspire students to use science, design, engineering, and environmental awareness as tools in their everyday lives.

English translation of an excerpt from our illustrated children's cartoon series introducing Climate Change:

"In the old days, the pika lived in the valleys and the yaks lived in the mountains, but then the weather began to change. The valleys became warmer and the pika began to die from the heat.

Seeing his villagers suffering, the leader of the pikas called a meeting to decide what to do. None could remember a time when the land was so hot for so long."