The McCabe family association with India goes back over 100 years.  Alistair McCabe’s grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts and more recently his cousin were missionaries. Alistair’s uncle, Revd Andrew McCabe died in service in 2017 at the age of 93 after a remarkable 67 year ministry. Andrew was a source of inspiration when MET was founded and we became the major supporter of his work. Andrew had a passion for helping children and firmly believed that the only difference between a well-dressed, articulate middle class child and a child living off its wits on the streets of one of India’s big cities, was opportunity. We are proud of the longevity of Andrew’s ministry and the countless children given a life-changing start in life. Andrew’s work was more widely recognised when he was awarded an MBE in the 1992 Queens Birthday Honours List.

Andrew’s base was in a remote village near the Indian Nepal border: the region his parents had ministered in for 30 years before him.  Here, the Anand Niwas Boys home looked after about 100 orphan boys and his school catered for a thousand boys and girls from the surrounding villages. His ministry was one of Christianity in action.

Many children crossed the border from Nepal to attend the school and in the holidays, Andrew would visit their homes in the foothills of the Himalayas, and village elders would confide their concerns with him. Topmost was the lack of access to any education anywhere near their remote villages. From these conversations, Dadhuwa school was born.

The villagers made available a mountain-top location, safe from landslides , and undertook to provide voluntary manual labour. The Pahar Trust, a charity run by British and Nepali ex Ghurkas oversaw the construction and MET raised the funds. Dadhuwa school was built in 1997 for the remarkably low sum of £20,000.

During the past 27 years we have helped develop the school, building a student hostel, installing a library, and introducing computers. In recent years we funded a complete overhaul of the property, strengthening the boundary walls, repairing and repainting the buildings, and going forwards, we have a five year budget in place to provide uniform, school bag, paper and pencils for all pupils at the beginning of each school year. We are privileged to have Pralhad Karki in place as head teacher and MET representative in the village.

McCabe travellers visit regularly and a day in Dadhuwa is often cited as the highlight of their Nepal itinerary. MET involvement is now small but it is uplifting to see the difference our contribution is making to the life of this community.

At McCabe Travel we are planning our next trip to India and Nepal.

To read the August Newsletter click here

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