Conference at Timal on Sustainable Structures

AN ORIENTATION TO LOCAL AND INTERACTION WITH SKILLED MASONS. | August 29, 2015                         

Sathsathai Mundi and ABARI collaboratively hosted a Conference at Timal, Kavre on the 29th of August, 2015. The objective of the conference was to discuss with the local community  about upcoming project of building a model school and a model home.

The conference witnessed an overwhelming participation of the local community from Narayansthan VDC and surroundings. The participants present were local leaders, representative of the school management committee, skilled carpenters, masons, and members of various mother groups.

The conference started on positive note, with Sathsathai Mundi and ABARI representatives keen to deliver information about the model village project, and how locals shall benefit from it.

Mr. Sangram, the Project Lead from Sathsathai Mundi, thanked the locals for their attendance and also introduced the speakers and their roles. He also briefed the locals on how the project would help them reconstruct their homes and uplift their livelihoods.

Ms. Tanja Kruk, the Chairman/Treasurer of Sathsathai Mundi, Netherlands shared her experience working with various Mothers' Groups of Timal. The organization has been working in Timal for 10 years and she recalled the positive changes that have come out from their intervention. She emphasised her modus operandi of working together (sathsathai) and mentioned how happy she is to see the empowered women in the village of Timal. Similarly, she also shared the terror she experienced during this massive earthquake in Nepal, and why she is again motivated to help the people of Timal, despite limited funds.

She also discussed the importance of building earthquake resistant structures and how people of Timal could incorporate such technologies. She also spoke about how she found ABARI, which is working for the promotion and development of earthquake resistant structures using local resources.

Finally, the third speaker was Mr. Nripal Adhikary, Director of ABARI. He gave a detailed presentation of ABARI's work in the past and the core values that drive the organization. He also spoke about the execution plan for the project in Timal, and how the local community would be involved in the Owner Driven Reconstruction approach. The presentation was easy to understand, informative and graphic. 

The presentation included a video clip about manufacturing CEB (Compressed Earth Blocks) in an easy and efficient manner. The participants were interested to learn more about the technology. He also spoke about how ABARI will involve the local community (including women) in the execution of the project. Mr. Adhikary ended the session with the warm greetings asking for the cooperation with the locals in the future.

The was followed by  interaction program between the 44 skilled carpenters and masons and ABARI's team. The team discussed how skills would be transferred to the trainees and their role in the project. The team also answered queries raised by the trainees regarding their involvement, logistics and the technology. The trainees were very excited about the design and technology, as they didn't have to compromise much in terms of their vernacular construction style and their architecture. The trainees were curious to know about the training commencement date! The conference ended with site visits and informal discussions with the trainees.

Please join if you are interested in joining us in this project.

Prepared by: Saurabh Bhattarai | Project Coordinator, ABARI
Photographs: Sagar Chitrakar