Compressed Earth Brick (CEB) with bamboo is a progressive new natural building technology for Nepal. CLN will be partnering with nonprofit Hands with Hands, TEAM Nepal, and Nepali natural building pioneer Nripal Adhikary to bring CEB technology to village areas struggling to rebuild after the earthquake. (See below for more details on these new partners.) 

From the local villages, 12-15 people will be selected for on-the-job training. They will be paid for construction work on the projects and also trained step by step so that they can be employed as skilled CEB labor on future projects in the area. The participants will be chosen by the local community and will be a mix of unskilled individuals who need income-generating skills and skilled individuals with some knowledge of traditional construction techniques. TEAM Nepal brings a decades-long history of successful work in the area and will manage the community relationship, participants, and support day-to-day work during the build—as well as ensure long-term continuity of the program.

The materials and equipment have all been quality tested. Nripal has designed significant improvements to the Chinese-produced brick making machines and had his own version fabricated in Nepal. He has also tested the regional mud, found a local source of high-quality mud, and refined the mud and aggregate mix so that it won’t crumble apart as bricks--a common failing of other CEB projects in Nepal. The rock aggregate pulverizer is a machine also of Nripal’s improved re-design. Bamboo will come from Nripal’s factory in the Nepal lowlands this fall. TEAM Nepal is already working with the local community forest user groups to plant 440 bamboo saplings of the right variety for strong buildings so that in 18-24 months, there will be a local supply of bamboo for future homes. Perhaps the best part of this project is that the solution comes from within—from a local, innovative Nepali with both the vision and the expertise to contribute to a better future. 
 

Gyalthum College is not far from the Children’s Home and is in the area where CLN partner and TEAM Nepal’s Director, Neel Thakuri grew up and has worked for years to support schools and education. It’s also one of the most heavily earthquake-affected areas of Nepal, where the majority of homes and schools were leveled. The one-story college building survived with cracks, but the additional classrooms they utilized for courses in Education and Agriculture were completely destroyed. Construction of a model building here is ideal because it’s a highly visible location in the local community. Risk-averse farmers and local villagers need to see demonstration buildings that will survive the next monsoon to convince them of CEB resilience and make them ready to invest their limited funds in this construction method for their own homes. Demonstrating CEB at Gyalthum College will provide a sustainable economic model for reliable and cost-effective building…and we are planning for that from the beginning.

In addition, we will rebuild three local homes in the surrounding area as a contribution to families in need, as an opportunity for further local skills training, and as visible demonstration of what homes (rather than classrooms) would actually look like.

CLN is already contributing $10,000 to help launch the program with Hands with Hands and TEAM Nepal this fall. The total project cost is estimated at $125,000 for all four buildings (about 45% of what large INGOs are spending on similar square footage at a nearby school). CLN gap funding will cover roughly 15% of the project to ensure that it can go forward. 

We need your support in raising an additional $10,000 this fall to support the purchase of CEB and pulverizer machines, among other tools and provide skills training for the local villagers who will be involved. CLN couldn’t be more optimistic about this project—it’s exactly the type of work we’ve always envisioned in Nepal! Construction is slated to begin in Nov/Dec 2016, and our hope is that all four buildings will be complete before the monsoon next year. Please join us in being part of a better future for Nepal!

When I visited Nepal last fall, part of my intention was to explore a better way to rebuild—a way that was seismically safe but also used more local materials, local knowledge, and local style. Reinforced concrete masonry is the typical solution to better buildings, but it’s expensive in areas outside Kathmandu (due to transport of rebar and concrete through the mountains). Although it makes sense for some offices and schools, local people are rarely able to afford these materials for a home.  Nepal needs a better solution--something that works for local conditions (like monsoons and mountains) and is solid, sustainable, and replicable. I began meeting with a variety of people engaged in rebuilding, discussing everything from earth bags to repurposed beer bottles to light gauge steel trusses. So many people and organizations were spilling into Nepal with a plethora of ideas and techniques. Some were established in other countries. Some had simply put together a kickstarter to fund their trip and were volunteering their time. It was hard to know who was doing what and how it would turn out. 

I felt a great deal of pressure around this time to get something started in the dry season. I could see that organizations without any knowledge of Nepal and without deep consultation with communities were building model structures. Most of them wrapped up, took their photos, and left before the monsoon started this year. Now at the end of a season of thunderstorms, high winds, and heavy rains, I hear regularly of new-style structures that are coming apart—earth bag buildings dissolving, mud bricks crumbling and building funding pulled out partway through, roofs blowing off of structures, the list goes on. It’s not to say that these systems can’t be implemented effectively in Nepal, but it requires a level of expertise, local knowledge, management-supervision-training, and follow-through/refinement that is often missing. Some projects were successful, but many more weren’t. This is typical of post-disaster situations and of development in Nepal. 

I knew it was vital to properly investigate rural building techniques before investing in rebuilding in Nepal. If we are looking for a sustainable path forward for Nepal, it has to be affordable, managed by people who understand the culture and the conditions, built for longevity, and ideally utilizing local innovation. In 2015 CLN was exploring straw bale as an innovative technology for mountain village areas of Nepal. With the support of U.S. experts, we experimented with straw bale and discussed with SODEC, but in the end we determined it wasn’t viable for the community’s needs. While in Nepal I also had multiple injuries, was personally exhausted, and strained to my limits. We paused to reassess the best course forward.

Some powerful new ideas came forward last fall, typically from people who have many years of experience on-the-ground in Nepal. I’ve been impressed with a few organizations and people (both Nepali and expat), their ideas, and their follow through. Among them, we have created new partnerships for this exciting program…

Kira Kay, Founder of Hands With Hands, is someone I’ve known for many years now through Neel, TEAM Nepal’s Director. An Australian woman based in Germany, with a deep spiritual connection to Nepal, Kira has built orphanages across the country…and then remained active in Nepal to ensure they are managed well in the ensuing years. We’ve shared a similar mindset and long-term commitment to helping in Nepal, both of our organizations have funded projects with Neel (including initial funds for the Children’s Home), and Kira and I have taken field visits to the Children’s Home and surrounding schools together where Kira has impressed me with her sensitivity and patience in local communities. 

For such a large and innovative program, Nancy and I are delighted to be able to partner with Hands with Hands. Kira is the catalyst behind the Gyalthum Project and has been essential in making it happen. She will be in Nepal nearly 2 months this fall and again next year to help ensure the project’s success. She has raised most of the funding through her own network, and Changing Lives is providing gap funding to cover roughly 15% of the project to ensure that it can go forward. 

Kira also introduced me to Nepali architect Nripal Adhikary and his rammed earth/CEB buildings. While in Nepal last fall, I spent time meeting with Nripal and visiting his construction sites, both in Kathmandu and in a village area outside the city.

Nripal Adhikari is very clearly part of the future of Nepal. He has lived and studied in New York and Arizona and has returned to Nepal to adapt what he’s learned to local conditions. He’s constantly and creatively exploring with materials: developing local treatments to extend the life and strength of bamboo for building, building some of the first rammed earth buildings in Nepal, designing and building the Library for Newari Literature using bamboo and rammed earth. He was working years before the earthquake with these materials to refine the process and procedure in Nepal, and he’s committed to being in Nepal for years to come. Nripal has invested in a bamboo factory to ensure supply of quality raw materials—and has far-reaching plans for the future. When you listen to him, you can’t help but be enthralled—he speaks with clarity and passion about the grand vision he has for Nepal…and it starts here, with these homes and schools and projects that he’s so clearly devoted to.