INTERVIEW OF JESSICA KAIN, The founder of Marpha Foundation

1. Name- Jessica Kain      

2. How long have you been in Nepal?

-         I’ve been in Nepal for like 4 years and have been living in Marpha- 3 for a long time.

3. Do you know about Marpha?

- Yes, I do know about

4. How did you get the idea to open Marpha Foundation in such a village?

- Hmm, The idea was not to have an idea. The idea was very simple and that can change.

5. How did you first start this foundation?

- We started as an artistry residency for Nepali artist and doing  art classes in Marpha. We started with no buildings and doing arts in the schools, streets and then gradually rented one room and then two room and finally took over whole building. It’s really growing slowly.

6. How do you run the foundation?

- Mostly private donations, we’re part of Thai Airlines CSR program this year and then we’re slowly applying for small grants. But we mostly believe in private donations.

7. How do you get connected to the children’s?

- It’s teaching through relationship. We have full day kindergarten. We have 2-5 years old come here from 9:30 to 4:30. In the Kindergarten we have 3-4 teachers for 20 students. We divide the student to different level so there is a lot of mixed aged play, mixed aged engagement. But at different time period we divide ages of children to do more advanced work than that of smaller ages.

8. How do you teach the childrens?

- We teach them through art, games, dance, music, a lot of projects, presentations, teaching philosophies etc.

9. Do the parents pay the fee for the Kindergarten?

- For the Kindergarten the parents pay nominal fee either Rs.800 a month flat rate or Rs. 600 and the parents even do laundry twice a month. We have two different communities in Marpha i.e. the wealthier community and the low income community. So, this serves both.

10. Do you work with any other kids rather than the children’s studying in this foundation?

          - Yes, we work with the kids who go to the Government school in Marpha, we work with the government school in Jomsom and we work with the monks in the monastery. It’s more like project based classes we take with these kids.