KOREAN GLOBAL VILLAGE TEAM VISITS NEPAL

Habitat for Humanity International – Nepal was very pleased to welcome the Korean Global Village student team of 16 students and 1 teacher to Nepal in December 2007.They worked from 28 December 07 to 07 January 08. The team got an opportunity of magnificent exposure and experience by traveling and serving. They also left the organization with fond memories to cherish.

Volunteers enjoying the fruit of their labor
- A family assisted -

After a welcome introduction by HFHI-Nepal staff and a half day sightseeing tour where the team saw some of the stunning architectural and religious significant areas of the valley, the team boarded a plane to Bhadrapur in Jhapa district of Eastern Nepal. At the site, which was near Birtamode, the team was introduced to the home partners and met with staff from Hatemalo, HFHI-Nepal’s partner organization. After the site orientation and presentation on safety when working with the tools and bamboo construction materials the team started their work. The team had not worked with bamboo before but quickly learnt the skills required to prepare the material. Every day the team members, together with the home-partners, Habitat and Hatemalo staff and local volunteers worked hard to prepare the materials, weave the bamboo walls, and finish the concrete flooring. The work was not simple but the team hid the difficulties and worked with optimum effort. They started and ended their work with a prayer marking them all closer to the Lord.

Refining Spitted Bamboo Weaving Bamboo wall

On the final day a special house dedication ceremony was held where the participants shared their experience and thanked each other for their work. The home partners presented the team with Tokens of Love and the ribbons were cut to the two houses. The team was sad to leave the village as where the home owners sad to see them leave.

Home owner Kul Bahadur Thakuri, 75 years old male shared his feelings at the end of the program:

“Initially I had thought that only one person would come and assist only for a few days but unexpectedly a huge crowd came and helped to build my house. I have learnt from my 25 years of experience that bamboo housing is not an easy task. I was not sure if the volunteers could do the construction. But now, their work seems very professional and they are working very hard as if it is their own house.”

75 yrs old home Partner actively involved

His wife was also very sad to see the students leave:

“When you all come in the morning I feel light everywhere but when you leave I find darkness. Why don’t you purchase a piece of land and build a house here so that we can live together and I can see you forever.”

Apart from learning the construction techniques, the team accomplished in other fields as well. Despite many team members only meeting for the first time, strong friendship soon formed and the team worked very well together to complete the daily tasks. The team also visited the Swabodh Bal Bikash Kendra School where the students performed traditional songs and dance and the Korean team presented some of their own songs and Korean martial arts performance. All of the students greatly enjoyed the interaction. We were very pleased to receive a visit from the Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. Narendra Bikram Nembang who was impressed by the volunteer’s work and thanked them for their contribution.

The Team

The volunteers’ effort was duly recognized and covered by the medial as well. Articles about their efforts were published in the local and national dailies like Kantipur national Daily, Mechi Times, Purbanchal, Bivechana, Jana Samshad and Samacharpatra. They were interviewed about their reasons behind coming to Nepal. The media persons themselves were impressed by the work the Koreans had put up. Moreover, the coverage by Nepal Television was also extensive and informative. All these published items were an appreciable gesture and further motivated everyone involved in the housing program. This is great testament to the students’ hard work and also the effort from the home partners and local volunteers.

It was an honor to have the Korean Global Village Team visit Nepal and work together on achieving Habitat’s goal of ensuring people to have a decent home to live.

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A year that was: Highlights

Every year, we start with better ways to enhance our performance and stronger objectives to help us achieve our goals. Habitat for Humanity International - Nepal also started the year 2007 with three basic strategies to be fulfilled: Shelter through Savings, Micro Finance Institutions (Save and Build), Research and Development. With these strategies in mind, the people at Habitat worked throughout the year to fulfill the desired aims.

The year ended with lots of achievements to feel proud of and look back on, lots of challenges to consider upon for another new year. Habitat for Humanity International - Nepal also went through a lot of changes. As we look ahead for another fresh year, we go through a series of events, achievements and experiences of Habitat.

Habitat highlights

• The organization completed its 2086th house at the end of December 2007
• The organization worked with Samjhauta Nepal, Samuhik Hatemalo Sewa Samuha, World Vision International, Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Canadian Architects’ Legacy Fund, Lumanti, SOS Children’s Village, Sahara Nepal, Jeevan Bikash, Nari Bikash and Juntara Social Development Centre throughout the year as partners. These organizations assist Habitat in construction and microfinance operations.
• The former affiliates of HFHI Nepal in Surkhet, Kailali and Chitwan showed keen interest to work with the organization.
• Mr. Barry Mackey from Canada led the organization for six months from July to December and proved to be a great leader and a valuable asset to the organization. We farewelled him on December 21, 2007.
• Various National and International volunteers joined Habitat to help with the organization’s internal work. Mrs. Kate Breen from Australia joined as a full time volunteer in November for six months. She has been assisting on coordinating the Global Volunteers Program.
• Habitat took the initiation to extend its work in the mid western and far western region.

Achievement highlights

• HFHI - Nepal initiated the program of bamboo housing because of its durability and low cost. HFH Canada supported HFHI-Nepal in this project. CIDA approved the Grant of Bamboo laminates Micro Enterprises for South East Nepal. Peter Russell, a volunteer from Habitat Canada led this project as the Program Manager.
• The Canadian Architect’s Legacy Fund has given a fund of US $ 15061.51 followed by an additional fund of US $ 25000.
• HFHI, Nepal received recognition for promoting Bamboo housing technology as a cost effective housing tool in Nepal and won the HFHI Clarence Jordan Award for the year.
• Habitat Nepal was also recognized for its endeavor to encourage micro financing organizations. It was the runner-up in Koinonia Award for innovation in mobilizing financial capital.

Activity highlights

• HFHI - Nepal organized two programs for volunteers to participate in our program:The first program was organized for Lincoln School in Kavre from October 8-12. The second program was for a group of three Nepali Architects in Jhapa from November 18-20.
• The year ended eventfully with the first Global Village Team visit. A group of seventeen Korean students built two houses in Mechinagar, Jhapa. The program was held from December 28 to January 7, 08 and was very successful
• 42 families were assisted with water supply in Patalekhet VDC, Kavre
• Various initiatives were taken to assist the flood victims of Makwanpur
• A training program was held in Dhangadi, Nepalgunj for ADRA .
• 72 houses are in progress through ADRA/BASE.
• Another training program was provided for Caritas International to work in Janakpur and the other five districts to help in cost effective construction methodologies.

After looking back on everything said and done, its now time to look for yet another beginning and give your best for the year 2008.

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Group of Young Nepal Architects at work in Jhapa with Habitat……

Railing Completed

Helping others lead a better life without any selfishness is a very noble task. Three architects from Nepal; Ashmita Thapa, Indira Manandhar and Pooja Gautam volunteered for HFHI in Jhapa. They worked from Nov 18-20th 2007 along with Samjhauta Nepal. They helped in building bamboo railings and weaving bamboo walls and learnt about the technology of HFHI-Nepal.
The young professional architects received great experience, knowledge and technique about bamboo housing through working with Habitat which will help them further in their work. They began their work in PrithiviNagar VDC, Jhapa. They learnt more about Habitat as an organization, its mission, working procedure and various other details. This gave them a clearer picture of how Habitat is working through community's involvement and microfinance to enable people to have decent houses to live in. They also learnt how Habitat has been motivating women to come forward participate in social activities. This gave them a clearer picture about how they were going to work with the community and motivated them more to work properly. Later, they visited the work site and talked to Habitat personnel and Samjhauta Nepal staff for all the technical details. The team then helped in building the bamboo railings. The villagers shared their ideas about how the railings should be built and they worked accordingly. They tried their best to make the most out bamboo and implement it for cost effective housing.

Making holes for Rails

Bamboo, if used properly can prove to be an excellent material for people with low income. It is strong and requires very low maintenance. Determined to help the community by keeping Habitat's mission in mind, the architects toiled a lot to weave walls and also intermingled with the local community. The villagers shared their gratitude and were impressed by the service offered by these young people. An old home partner woman shared, "you are god sent angels for me, and you made my dreams come true."

The work experience, they explained, was tremendously fruitful. They had learnt a lot through each activity. One architect shared, "We are really overwhelmed to see what Habitat is doing for the community. The women are getting a chance to participate actively and also build better habitats for themselves. “They gained more experience of construction through locally available materials. Also, they were overwhelmed to know about the developing status of women in the society. Apart from this; a poor family in Jhapa got a decent house to live in.

The Team

For Habitat too, it was a gainful experience. HFHI - Nepal is proud of young, versatile people showing interest to work for the organization. This will help the organization extend its service to wider areas. The architects left by sharing their views about cost effective construction. The team is now more motivated to work and serve the community. They have also shown additional interest to research on locally available materials through Habitat itself.

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Partnerships enable development of Bamboo Laminated Housing Materials…

HFHI- Nepal strives to be innovators in cost effective housing provision with one of the strategies using locally available materials wherever possible.

As part of our ongoing development, HFH-Canada has signed a Contribution Agreement with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in order to help HFHI-Nepal to carry out its bamboo housing project Bamboo Enterprise for Habitat in southeast Nepal. The grant was signed on 23rd November 2007 and provides for CIDA to financially assist HFHI-Nepal through HFHI- Canada. With additional funding support from HFH-Canada and in partnership with Sahara-Nepal, HFHI-Nepal has subsequently initiated a new project to build Bamboo Enterprise for Habitat. The project is being developed as a micro financing enterprise which also aims to develop bamboo as a cost affective, environmental friendly and durable tool for housing.

Bamboo for weaving mats

The project was initially conceived by HFHI Nepal and was assisted by the Canadian Architects’ Legacy Fund. Further support is committed by the Canadian Architects’ legacy Fund to implement the program through the architectural design of the factory and the financial support to house more families in Nepal with more than thousand numbers of women will be benefited.
The enterprise will involve the weaving of hundreds of bamboo mats that will then be delivered to the factory to be built north of Chandragardi. Employing about 25 people per shift the factory will laminate the mats into corrugated roof panels using resin to stick them together. The process requires a large hot press together with other equipment which is currently being manufactured in Calcutta, India. The project aims to help the community generate more income through these micro financial institutions with their own participation. Through micro financing institutions, the project also aims to empower and activate women in its processes. This will develop the community and also help in poverty alleviation. Delivery of the factory equipment is expected in April 2008 and all being well, we can look forward to the start up of operations in July 2008.

The support from CIDA, HFHI Canada, and the Canadian Architects Legacy Fund and the partnership with Sahara-Nepal has given HFHI- Nepal a chance to take a big leap forward and pursue great innovation. HFHI- Nepal is extremely thankful for this assistance to all and looks forward to working together on moving these projects forward.

“As Project Manager I have been very encouraged by the team work that is evolving to create what will be a unique not-for-profit enterprise to put much superior roofs over the heads of people who have such a need for better housing.” Peter Russell - Volunteer Engineer from Canada

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Once again Lincoln School joined Habitat to assist families in Kavre, Nepal…

HFHI Nepal, in its efforts to build better habitat successfully, carried out its Volunteer program with Lincoln School for the second time. It was a five day program held October 8-12, 2007 at Patalekhet VDC, Kavre District. Twenty five students, five teachers, the Habitat team and the local community participated in this endeavor. Four houses were built and everyone worked in groups. The students were from the tenth grade and the program was a part of their annual Explore Nepal program. The program was not only successful in its efforts to build better habitat and serve deprived families but it also gave a broader perspective to the young minds. It helped them understand better the essence of selflessness and the joy one gets by helping others. Therefore, it was motivational and was an added encouragement for them to help society more.

The participants were mostly students but the presence and active involvement of teachers, leaders of the community and HFHI-Nepal staff made students more enthusiastic and motivated to contribute their valuable time to the community.

The team stayed at Mirabel Lodge in Dhulikhel which was half an hour away from the work site. The team was formally welcomed by the local community. The selected site is a hilly area full of ups and down but this did not deter the team of international students from working with a spirit of enthusiasm.

The added value to the program was the uniqueness of the schedule which was prearranged with R&R activates, like a visit to a religious place, arranged outdoor game as well as a cultural program. Therefore, the schedule of the program did not only consist of monotonous construction work but the above recreational activities now and then set to make them fresh and to have more interaction with the local community.

volunteers enjoying passing mud, carrying stones

The daily work consisted of different kinds of construction like digging foundation, carrying/passing stones, mixed/passing mud, carrying timber, carrying bucket of water etc. Some volunteers also got the new experience of building walls.

On the second day, the team visited Namo Buddha as a part of recreation after their work. This gave them an opportunity to visit one of the biggest stupas of Nepal and this as another opportunity to know about the other faiths.

On the third day, the students of Lincoln played a football match with the local students of Patalekhet. This was a fun experience for everyone.

On the fourth day, the locals of the village presented a cultural show for the volunteers’ team. This taught the students yet another aspect of the cultural life of Nepalese.

On the fifth day, the volunteers were given certificates as a token of appreciation. This was a motivational factor for the team to work harder and better. The participants felt proud of themselves because their work was extensively admired.
The team also visited all the houses of the home partners’ families. The community gave a farewell and thanked the team for their efforts for contributing their valuable time, energy to affect a change and helping them by building houses. Similarly, the students paid their respect to the community who had shown their love, care and support to them while admiring their work. The opportunity for the students to learn of the village lifestyle of Nepal was most valuable. Moreover, both the local and student teams shared their feelings and it was an emotional moment to observe.

From Daniel, a student at the Lincoln school, “It was a lot of fun working with and getting to know the local community. It was fun to play football with the local school”

Namgyal Lama from Lincoln says, "I think it was an excellent experience outdoors and I think I would love to live here after my retirement and someday I would love to build my own house and put my print in it"

Sita Lama a Home partner added, “It was really a wonderful experience for me working with international people who I had never met in my life and I am feeling proud that these 14-15 years old, very young students built home for me. So I have to preserve my house as they have contributed their sweat in this house”.

Additionally, the common feeling was, "It was great; we had lots of fun, learned new things, gained new experience and helped the people. we really liked digging."

group picture after farewell

Not only the volunteers, the home partners also had a very wonderful experience. Four houses were built for the community. This process had the effect of getting all members of the families to work together. On the other hand, they got a chance to work as a team with people from a different part of the world. The volunteers too explored a different aspect of Nepali people and lifestyle. Such programs indeed develop the society. It was also heart touching to see the volunteers tolerate the hardships of the work with the aim of helping the society. Notwithstanding a previous injury, one of the teachers’ from the school still volunteered to help; it did not stop him working even though he was in pain. After all, the pursuit of humanity drives our emotions on one way or the other and we work for it. Students of the Lincoln school were also very generous and donated an amount of US $1,000.00 as a local contribution to HFHI-Nepal in addition to the construction tools to the home partners.

Therefore, this program initiated by HFHI-Nepal was a wonderful experience for many. Firstly, it developed the community with their active participation. Secondly, it helped young minds learn about the Nepali culture. It also encouraged them to help more and serve more. For Habitat, it was, above all, a worthy achievement and encouragement. It was a matter of pride for the community as well to work interculturally in their local environment.

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HFHI-Nepal Honor with Clarence Jordan Award

It feels good when one’s efforts are admired. We feel encouraged to work more extensively and enthusiastically. Similarly HFHI-Nepal got its recognition for its constant effort to build better habitats. This took place in The Asia Pacific Housing Forum 2007 in Singapore. Many counties participated and Nepal made a distinct mark at the forum. Country Representative Mr. Aruna Paul and Senior Advisor, Mr. Barry Mackey participated in the program on behalf of HFHI-Nepal.


Award won in Singapore and re-celebrated in Nepal

Nepal won the 2007 Claren Jordan Award for innovation in housing and human settlement opportunities. It was awarded with an amount of US$ 20,000. Nepal was chosen as the winner among six nominated countries for its contribution in developing cost effective, durable and environmentally sustainable methods of building houses with locally available materials. Habitat has worked hard to prove the point that bamboo is an effective material with which to build houses; a fact that is not widely accepted in the local areas. It proved that bamboos are cheap, locally available, cost effective and durable enough to withstand earthquakes.

Habitat for Humanity International Nepal is grateful to the Canadian Architects’ Legacy Fund that has been helping to promote the technology by creating a fund amounting to US$25,000. The Canadian International Development Agency through the efforts of our sister organization Habitat for Humanity International-Canada is assisting us in setting up a Bamboo Corrugated Roofing Sheets Plant in the Eastern Nepal, Jhapa. Home partners have contributed to this effort largely by sharing the traditional wisdom and expertise of weaving bamboo.

Furthermore, Nepal, at the same Forum, was rewarded as the runner-up in the 2007 Koinonia Award for innovation in mobilizing financial capital Such awards are precious motivators for the HFHI Nepal team to come up with better ideas and approach in new places.
We are thankful to Samjhuata Nepal, Samuhik Hatemelo Seva and the other partners for working closely with us to introducing Housing Micro Finance in Nepal.

No doubt, the recognition received through the Clarence Jordan Award and the Koinonia Award will be a further enhancement to be more creative and innovative to reach more families to make housing affordable to the poor and thus enhancing their life experience.

The award money will be used as a leverage fund to assist 236 more families affected by floods and to facilitate cost effective construction technology to the other partners, both for permanent shelter at a less cost and for transitional shelter for those affected by disaster as the first response.
The cost of construction for permanent shelter for a 330 square foot home ranges from NRs. 39,000 to 63,000 (US$ 615 to 990) and for transitional shelter from NRs.12, 000 to 18,000 (US$ 190 to 280).

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A new initiative of Bamboo Housing by HFHI-Nepal

Habitat’s constant effort to help the community taught the organization a new technique of Bamboo Housing to grasp and enhance. Bamboo housing was introduced in Nepal in 2005. HFHI, Nepal realized the local application of bamboo into housing in a cost effective manner from the community itself. This motivated Habitat to further promote the technology and help people build decent habitats. For this purpose, Habitat initiated the program of bamboo housing. .Canadian Architects’ Legacy Fund also volunteered in the program and learnt a lot about the technology. The house is built by weaving six bamboo strips plastered with cement or clay for the walls of a house. Six bamboo pillars support the roof and the walls providing added resistance. Some of the houses of Habitat’s aim to build 20,000 houses by 2012 using low cost techniques will use this bamboo housing technique.

Working after being trained by HFHI-Nepal

Bamboo housing technique was adopted not only because bamboo houses look nice or because they are warm and cozy. It has various technical benefits as well. Bamboo is indigenously available in the southern part of Nepal. When raw materials are easily available, it requires less trouble to assemble and thus makes it more affordable and portable to apply bamboos into housing. Apart from having a private house strong enough to resist earthquakes or strong winds and storms, a bamboo house owner will be helping the environment as well. Bamboos are known to be eco friendly as they are helpful in
reducing the green house effect. No doubt, this new program will be beneficial from a wide range of prospects. Bamboo housing, therefore, is being promoted for the following attributes; affordability, ease of assembly, portability, durability and cultural acceptance. This has been experienced by some of the house owners as well who share their story about how their lives have taken a new turn.
Nar Kumari Limbu is one such benefic of this housing program. She is a 22 year old woman from Satishdham- 7, Jhapa. She lives with her husband, Rabin Limbu, a mason, and three daughters. The new house built from the combination of efforts by Sahara Nepal, Habitat for Humanity and the community’s effort enhanced by the Juntara Village Bank has given her brighter days and fresher hopes. The house was built a year ago. She shares her story about the past and the present:-
“Our family has had a very painful past. Due to political conflicts, we were moved out from our native Taplejung village. We had no land or a house of our own so we had to live with our cousins in Jhapa. Too many people in the same house was very difficult to adjust. The kitchen was also in the same room so the smoke coming out had started to degrade our health. My husband was a mason and we depended on his earning for our living but it just wasn’t enough. He went to a gulf country to earn more and during those times I had to struggle hard to raise my three daughters. I also started working as a wage earner in farming. Finally, my husband returned and we were able to buy a piece of land. We also collected some bamboo, sand and timber but building a house was way out of thought. We then heard of the housing Program initiated by Habitat for Humanity along with our Juntara Village Bank. I managed to collect 18000 from my savings and Habitat helped me assemble an additional 18000. With that money and the materials available, we were finally able to build up a new house. It has been a year and we finally have a comfortable life.”

Habitat house of Nara Kumari Limbu

“Having been displaced form our native house, this magnificent house is far beyond a dream come true. It is beautiful and comfortable and many people who drop by are full of admiration. Not only am I more encouraged to keep it clean but it had also motivated me to help the community build better housed of this sort. The kitchen and the rooms are separate so it is more hygienic as well. The underground water system is equally convenient. Moreover, I am more aware of the advantages of bamboo housing. It has improved our health conditions as it brings more warmth. Moreover, its strength makes us feel more safe and secured. We are not scared of any strong winds or heavy rainfall. Habitat has also made us aware that it is eco friendly. This makes me feel happy to have realized that I have helping the environment as well.”
Not only has our habitation, the overall living standard has bettered considerably. I have taken training from Group Level Orientation and Village Level Orientation. This has enabled me to work efficiently in a group and I am also aware of eco friendly housing techniques. I am the member of the community’s co-operative and I attend weekly meetings as well. I am also the member of the saving group formed by Sahara and Family Selection and Construction monitored by Habitat and Sahara. Previously, my husband was a local mason and I was into farming. Due to poor economic condition, we were living in a hand to mouth situation. Now I have trained myself in making candles and I earn more by selling them. My husband is again in the gulf countries. Better earning has encouraged saving and we are now able to educated our children better. This house has certainly enhanced our pride and dignity.”
Nar Kumari shared her joys and Habitat was really joyful to hear about her success. It was also a great pride for Habitat when media recognized Habitat’s noble task. An article regarding the bamboo housing program was published on Dec 1, 2006 in the national daily, “Purbanchal Rastra Dainik”. This very article showed how bamboo housing has given rise to a new mode of shelter to Bhumika Rai and also the future prospects of the program. The article is also posted in the blog.
Another article regarding the same program was also published in the Nepali paper, “Samaya” on December 14, 2006. The article also discussed about similar roles of bamboo and also the viewpoint of many social workers. Habitat’s new method of building better houses climbed up one more step through this new program of bamboo housing initiated by Habitat, Nepal. It’s through the support from everyone around the world that we will be able to build better living.

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