Situated in the tiny tribal village of Bakhel in northwest India, the school has been built on a rocky outcrop of wasteland in the village. It currently has 100 children coming every day, 8 teachers, two cooks, a cleaner, a construction manager and our wonderful co-ordinator, Deepak. There are now 10 classrooms, another water tank, a rainwater harvesting system, composting toilets, a kitchen, and a wood store.

But just a few years ago, the school existed only as an idea and dream in our minds. The journey from these plans and ideas to a solid school was an exciting and at times turbulent process in itself. It involved:

• finding a community to work with
• acquiring the site to build the school
• the initial build- which cost less than £5,000 and paid for 4 classrooms and 2 water tanks
• establishing a relationship with our local partner organisation
• enroling students and recruiting teachers to start the school