Our organization originated when three teachers, two of them on a grant from Fund For Teachers, volunteered in Nepal for a summer. While there, they met a 12-year old girl whose background, which included years of living in prison with a convicted parent, severely impaired her ability to be educated by the traditional school system. When the teachers researched the alternatives that might be available, they found that there were none. It was this discovery that there were no educational alternatives for this girl and the many other children like her that led to the birth of Global Alternative Learning Alliance (GALA).
The three teachers — Steve Mereu, Jean Gennis, and Tracy Takahashi — helped Indira Ranamagar, director of the PA-Nepal home in Kathmandu, start an alternative school called Junkiri, which means “Firefly” in Nepali. When Junkiri opened in August 2005 it had four students. Junkiri quickly took on a life of its own and continues to grow.
Upon returning to the United States, Steve, Jean, and Tracy, together with another two teachers, took the initial steps to create GALA. They formed a founding Board of Directors and organized benefits to raise the initial funding for the organization. Junkiri became GALA’s first project.
