Compressed Earth Block Workshop at Bhattedanda, Dhulikhel
On December 22, 2015, fifteen women from Bhattedanda, Dhulikhel participated in a compressed earth block workshop organized by ABARI.
The construction of Sanu Maya Tamang’s house in the same area has generated the intended curiosity about improved earthen construction technique as the earthquake had shaken people’s faith in the material. To our delight, there has been an overwhelming interest in the village to build using our techniques.
Phul Maya Tamang, one of the influential community mobiliser said, “We are ready to make the compressed earth blocks not just for our own but to encourage the entire village to rebuild their homes with safer techniques and designs.”
With sheer excitement and eagerness, the women made clay mixtures and molded few sample blocks.
The aim of this project is to promote entrepreneurship through the rebuilding process in the earthquake affected community of Bhattedanda, Dhulikhel. Kavre is one of the hardest-hit districts, with an estimated 150,000 people were rendered homeless. Given the scale of the destruction in the district, ABARI believes that a diffused reconstruction approach through workshops and on-the-job training will be the most effective method. This project aims to introduce enterprises and skills amongst local community members that both encourage homeowners to rebuild with confidence and provide knowledge valuable to individuals beyond the rebuilding process. By empowering the community with skill trainings, ABARI aims to facilitate their livelihood development vis-à-vis the reconstruction effort.
This Owner Driven Reconstruction (ODR) approach is a participatory model which places homeowners at the center of reconstruction. The model integrates the homeowner’s decisions on home design and site selection for house construction with building techniques tailored to local environments and resilient to environmental hazards—earthquakes, floods, landslides, and high winds in the case of Nepal. To expedite a well-informed and accelerated reconstruction process, ODR programs create contexts for homeowners to access building materials, finance construction, and receive technical assistance with home design and construction.
