Nepal |
Saturday 5 September – Tuesday 15 September 2009 |
Build a home hand-in-hand with a Nepalese family.
Join this two-week challenge and you will work alongside a Nepalese family as they build themselves out of shocking poverty. Working together with the local community, you will assist in building a home using local materials such as bamboo and clay bricks to create environmentally friendly and durable homes. On your days off you will have the opportunity to explore Lumanti and surrounding Chitwan district, allowing you to reflect on all that you have experienced building alongside Nepalese people in great need
About Nepal
Home to the majestic Mount Everest, landlocked Nepal is also one of the poorest countries in the world. The majority of Nepalese live in villages and are dependent on agriculture, but severe floods, landslides and earthquakes threaten homes, fields and livestock. A lack of employment and poverty has forced one in 10 of the rural population to migrate to the capital Kathmandu and other municipalities. A decade-long rebel insurgency has also driven people from villages to the cities in search of safety. According to government data, nearly 430,000 families live in dilapidated houses that are unhealthy, prone to collapse and a fire risk - nearly 10,000 families lose their homes to fire every year.
Why build in Nepal?
Habitat for Humanity puts a great emphasis on partnership in Nepal, working with many Non-Governmental Organisations to provide a range of services, such as house renovations and building new houses in stages, which means that house loans are smaller. Each core house, 26 sq. m. in size, is designed to be added to later on. Houses are constructed using cost-effective bamboo and “green” bricks. In Nepal, indigenous bamboo is suitable for use in house construction as it grows quickly, is easy to use, environmentally friendly and durable. Bamboo can be used as poles, doors, windows, mats for wall and ceiling, and fence-posts. The rural community can turn this production into income-generating activities. The houses are chiefly built for poor, marginalized, indigenous and low income groups of the society. The homeowners will work along with the volunteers.
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TURNING HOPE INTO HOMESSita Pariyar lives in Ganesthan, Chitwan. She works as a daily wage labourer and has three children. “I had a very hard life. My husband left me and I had the sole responsibility of managing my children. The walls of my house were made of weak grasses and the roof was made of old tin. One day a storm blew some of the walls down. This made the roof fall off. I was a bit wounded. I was able to put up only one tin wall through my petty earnings. The second wall was still bare and open. I covered the space with bed sheets at night. But the nights were filled with the feeling of fear and insecurity. I had to be awake the entire night like a watchman. The thought still brings tear to my eyes.
After I worked with Habitat for Humanity and my local community, my life has totally changed. The house took two months to get completed. I also worked for the house for 40 days. It has new walls and a strong roof. The house feels much safer and hygienic now. It has good sanitary facilities with a toilet and water facilities. My children finally have a decent place to live in. Looking at the house makes me forget all my sorrows.”
Sita Pariyar, Habitat Homeowner, Nepal. |
**Trip cost includes donation. See Not Included section for details of exclusions. We act as agents for Key Travel ATOL Protected 3329 and shall issue an ATOL receipt for flight payments to confirm that it is protected by Key Travel's ATOL bond.