"The powerhouse of positivity that is Conscious Impact - it’s volunteers, it’s employees, and its contributors - has shown to me that from negativity individuals from all cultures and walks of life have the ability to come together to create beauty and growth.
We hosted the Takure Primary School children at camp for a on-site field trip. In the tipi, we gave the children a short orientation about the history of Conscious Impact, and the reasons we focus on sustainable living. After a short lunch, we showed the students our composting system, talked about the importance of organic agricultural practices, and taught them how to properly plant fruit trees.
We then took the students to the Training Center, and showed the students how we locally produce CSEBs. We explained the importance of ethically sourced building materials, and how we hope to support the community by continuing to make and sell affordable bricks.
The children clearly enjoyed all the ways they got to participate in daily camp activities. Hopefully it won’t be the last time they come to learn and help out.
The completed ramed earth walls. Photo: Oliver James Atwood
Incredible, incredible day at the Women's Savings Cooperative work site today - we have just finished the last blocks for the rammed earth walls! This rammed earth building has been designed specifically for the local women's savings cooperative office and meeting place in the nearby town of Nawalpur.
Our volunteers create a mix of 5 parts earth, 3 parts gravel, 1 part stone, and a little cement.
Volunteers toss CSEBs to each other.
Nitzan and Maya of Back to Earth Community have been here and sharing their immense expertise and knowledge with dozens of Conscious Impact volunteers and our Nepali staff, local masons, and also 3 members from the KTK-BELT studio team in eastern Nepal. KTK-Belt had sent a small team here a few months ago to learn the process of making and curing Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEB) with us, and last week they sent another group to learn the art of rammed earth. We are grateful for the massive energy and collaboration the large group is bringing each and everyday!
Maya, Nitzan, and Allen pose next to the completed rammed earth walls.
The local masons will proceed in laying the compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) for the interior wall, and pouring the lintel beam, a structural horizontal block on top of the rammed earth walls. Such a beautiful day out today working together in the February sunshine. Deep thanks to all supporters from near and far, volunteers, and community members who have contributed to this momentous milestone. Onwards!
PS: Much love to everyone (in the name of Valentine's Day), today and more importantly, everyday
CSEBs are passed inside the structure to build the interior wall.
Written/ Photos by: Jonothan H. Lee
Instagram: Subtledream
Shyam Katuwal beams with joy as he hands us yet another bag of ginger to take home. He is proud to show us his farm, as he should be. The Katuwal family’s organic harvest is bountiful and they have put countless hours of hard work into it. The terraces are full of ginger, turmeric, potatoes, sugar cane, bananas, chard, and coffee. All growing in perfect harmony. His family knows how to farm to a degree of perfection I can only hope to one day understand. Our own vegetable garden is growing, but not in the same way as the Katuwal families', they know this land. They know the composition of the soil, they feel the changes in the climate, and they share the same concerns for the environment as we do. In this way, we are all connected. Visiting local farmers and connecting with families through their stories allows us to grow and connect even more as a community.
In the foothills of the Himalayas, Takure is a village of farmers. Land is inherited through generations and is the most precious family belonging. Everyday we are surrounded by families that rely on farming to survive. Families walk their goats past The Training Center, strong men and women carry 50kg dokos of vegetables with no pause, and our tents look over terraces full of rice, buckwheat, and millet.
Local families of farmers have opened up to us in teaching about their practices. On our visits families show their land with pride and offer vegetables to taste. They tell stories of their lives before the earthquake and the hopes and dreams for their families now. In exchange we share stories of the faults of our own countries abroad. We discuss the damage chemical fertilizers and pesticides have caused in countries around the world. We discuss organic practices, climate change, and reforestation through coffee, cardamom, and other cash fruit trees.
Our own vegetable garden is thriving thanks to the dedicated volunteers that care for it. Our farm is completely organic and we produce compost directly from our camp food waste. We have developed a system that guarantees as little waste as possible and we are working our hardest to leave no impact on the land. We use natural and organic fertilizers to combat ants, termites and aphids that become nuisance. By creating natural pesticides and farming organically we can see firsthand the struggles faced by local farmers when not using pesticides. We also teach our volunteers these practices to take home. People from around the world are introduced to organic farming, and can start their own vegetable gardens in their home country!
I am thankful that the farmers are letting us into their homes and sharing their stories with us. Our farm visits and agriculture program have brought us even closer to the community that we admire so much. It’s about connecting with a community on a deeper level. I am grateful for the volunteers that come to Nepal eager to learn about organic farming techniques and implement them in their home country. I hope that one day our cultures from around the world are able to adapt environmentally friendly techniques and create healthy and sustaining agricultural communities.
Written by: Bryce G. Tanner / Photography: Jonathan H. Lee @subtledream
Instagram: BryceGeralynn
Alyson and Ellen taught a workshop on environmental awareness and sustainability at the Nawalpur Secondary School with a group of 7th graders. The focus of the workshop was to go over basic environmental science concepts, like the carbon cycle and the difference between biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials.
The workshop was a great opportunity to engage local Nepali teenagers and ask them what they know about local waste management practices and allow them to brainstorm ways it can be improved. As our first time at the Nawalpur Secondary School, it was a great introduction to interacting with older age groups in our area, and inspiring future programming that promotes sustainability and green values in the next generation of young Nepalis.
At the beginning of the new year, the Takure Primary School teachers invited us to help paint one of their new classroom buildings that was constructed by PLAN UNICEF last Spring. We came down in the morning with a large group of volunteers from our 10-day build and set to work!
We allowed groups of students to take turns and help us so they could participate in making their place of learning a little more colorful! As you can see from these photos, the kids had a wonderful time engaging in a play-oriented activity that contributed to the beautification of their school. Our goal with the education program is to continue doing activities with children that promote creativity and independent thinking in traditional school spaces.
In December some friends and I hosted a guest bartending fundraiser at a popular bar in San Francisco, CA. In large cities you might be lucky enough to find bars/restaurants that open up their businesses to do something similar. Essentially, during a low traffic period of time (in our case, a Saturday from 6-9PM), you and a group of friends can go behind the bar and make drinks, and all tips (possibly both cash and credit depending on the business) will be pooled and donated to your initiative.
Depending on how well you advertise, you can make anywhere from $100 - $2000 dollars. On top of the tips earned, another volunteer and I donated several items to be raffled off, mostly a bunch of leftover souvenirs from Nepal. The more people drink, the easier it is to get them to buy raffle tickets ;)
I organized the fundraiser in conjunction with a friend also raising money for a volunteer trip to Peru. After splitting costs, we raised around $400 for Conscious Impact.
My second fundraising effort was through a personal poetry book that I printed myself. I bought a bulk amount of paper at Paper Source and printed about 80 copies through multiple avenues, such as a printing room at a friend's former art school and Office Depot. I bound the books myself using hemp cord and gave them as gifts for minimum $10 donations.
I advertised this fundraiser on Facebook and Instagram.
I asked donors to email me their address with a screenshot of their donation so I could ship the book over to them.
In total, I spent about $400 of my own money on materials, printing costs, and shipping costs. I absorbed around $330 of the profits gained to reimburse myself.
I raised $1,534.
...with an average donation of $20.45 per person.
You can read the poetry and writing that was featured in the book on my blog, alysonnoele.com
With 7% ($210) of our funding left to raise after closing our Generosity page, we decided to throw a party.
We charged $5 for admission at the door, which got attendees access to a keg, some pretzels and chips, and performances by 5 musical acts. If they were not into drinking beer (or at least, the beer provided), they could buy mixed drinks at a staffed bar for $3/ea. If they were feeling like they wanted something more substantial than chips or pretzels to fill their stomachs, we offered bowls of dhal bhat, served at the bar for $1/ea (Dhallar Deals!!!).
We had 8 friends that volunteered to work shifts to create the party. One of them was the dedicated ‘sound guy’ for the night, helping bands/solo acts setup and teardown. He also managed the mixer and made sure the sonic waves kept bumping their bump. The other 7 rotated through one hour-long shifts at the door (taking money for admission) or at the bar (mixing drinks). We had a schedule of everyone’s shifts made a day in advance and made sure everyone received an electronic copy.
The PA system was donated for use by one of Dillon’s coworkers. All of the musicians were willing to play for free. We happen to utilize enough ‘cool’/groovy lighting in our household (color-changing LED bulbs, laser-like projectors, etc.) that we did not need to hire anyone from the outside to take care of lighting (although we did have a visual artist/audio engineer offer to take part in any future events that we throw for free).
Our goal was the cover the cost of the party through admissions alone (this gave us an estimated attendance goal). We made a point to reach out to people individually to find out if they were coming, and to let them know to invite all of their friends. We made sure to let people know about the event during the weeks leading up to it whenever we were at other parties/bars.
We made sure to let all of our neighbors know what was going on, and gave them our contact info in case they needed to reach us.
*Special note: We had a friend’s parent agree to match all of the contributions given that night, effectively doubling the impact of every dollar earned.
About 60-70 people showed up. Fun was had. Musics were played. Bodies danced. We tapped out the keg much faster than anticipated, and ended up having to make a run to the grocery store to get more beer mid-party. All of the dhal bhat was eaten, and almost of the liquor was consumed by the end of the night.
$95.00
$12.00
$99.27
$63.99
$25.00
DONATED
$36.38
$14.32
$345.96
Keg
Tap
Liquor Store Trip
Safeway Trip
Last Store Trip
Chris' Store Trip
Last Minute Booze
Ice
Total:
Breakdown:
$710
$364.04
$710
$1,074.04
Gross
Profit
Matching Donation
Total Profit
Since November 2016, Conscious Impact has been working to build a permanent office space for the Nawalpur Women's Microfinance Cooperative. For over 5 years, the 730+ women members have been assisting each-other in economic empowerment and self-sufficiency for over 5 years... all out of an office the size of a small closet. After purchasing land and hearing of our rebuilding efforts in Takure, members of the Cooperative reached out to us for assistance in building a larger, sustainable, affordable and earthquake-resistant space with which to continue their operations.
The sixth annual Women's Microfinance Cooperative gathering.
In response, Conscious Impact's resident architects (Satwika, Fred and Oliver) have teamed up with Nitzan and Maya of Back to Earth Community to design a functional space using an earth-building technique known as “Rammed Earth.” Volunteers, Nepali women and Nepali brick-masons alike have spent the last month working together to move rocks and dig the foundation for the project. It's been a truly inspiring experience, and by April 2017 we aim to provide Nawalpur with its very own completed rammed earth Women's Microfinance Co-Op Office building.
Conscious Impact resident architect, Satwika, explains the design for the project to volunteers
Rammed earth is an ancient earth-building technique that requires a specific mixture of compacted sand, gravel, and soil to make full rock-wall panels. This technique essentially mimics how nature makes rock by compacting sediment in place. The whole process personally reminds me of making a bread recipe from scratch with local ingredients for a large group of people. You first use small molds to test differently proportioned “recipes” made with your locally available earth ingredients to see which one holds its shape best. The nature of our soil here is preferred for rammed earth because it is more sandy and gravely than clayey. Rammed earth is highly dependent on gravel for stability and durability. By the end of preparation for this project, Nitzan said he tested over 20 different mixtures to find the right one.
Allen and Maxime ram the walls inside the formwork for a test section.
Once perfected, you multiply your recipe proportions to a large enough scale that you can mix it in large batches on-site. These batches are then poured layer by layer into a wall formwork usually made with wooden panels. To construct the walls, people stand inside the formwork and use ramming tools (somewhere between a long-handled ice scraper and a garden-hoe) to compact the mixture layer by layer until it is finally full and stable. The result is a rammed earth rock wall. If you fit together enough of these wall sections on top of a stone foundation and put your desired roof on top (in our case, concrete) you eventually have a durable, affordable, earthquake-resistant, sustainable rammed-earth building. It is for these reasons that this method perfectly complemented our vision for the Co-Op, and why we chose to use it.
After weeks of meeting with the women in the Co-op and finally getting the proper permits from the Nepali government, on Nov 19th we were able to hike to Nawalpur and begin construction. A team of six of us hiked the 30 minutes to town to start manually leveling out a terrace for the supply-truck we ordered carrying bamboo, stones, gabion (rock retaining wall) cages and sheet metal. After 40 minutes of shoveling, we managed to finish constructing the resultant soil-ramp with 5 minutes to spare.
CI volunteer John moving rocks between terraces for the foundation.
The rest of the day was spent constructing the foundation of a temporary bamboo/sheet-metal supply shed that will remain there to house our tools until the project's completion. We unloaded the trucks, measured out our bamboo poles, cleared out a 3x2 square meter rectangle of vegetation, and dug four 60-cm deep holes for the frame. After being in the sun all day and eating heavy chowmein for lunch, I ended up falling asleep on the ground for 20 minutes before returning to work. Nevertheless, we finished the foundation prep work for the shed to go up the next day.
CI Volunteer Joshua helps Maya and Nitzan (behind) move rocks for the gabions.
BEFORE - Setting the stage to build gabions for the retaining wall.
AFTER- The retaining wall is completed!
Nitzan, putting the finishing touches on the retaining wall.
It is now Day #22. In 3 weeks, we have built a septic tank in addition to a beautiful retaining wall supporting the Co-Op structure. In two days, we will also be ready to pour the cement for the foundation before building the walls in January. I have been back at the project on multiple mornings to clear out, level, dig and transport rocks for the Co-op foundation, and the experience has been nothing short of inspiring. It has been exciting and empowering to work alongside so many people from different parts of the world to bring this project into fruition.
Day 2: Clearing the land.
Day 16: Foundation in progress!
More than 40 volunteers, Nepali women and masons came out for our Saturday Tea Party to kick off the digging for the foundation. On any given day, anywhere from 10-15 people from all different backgrounds are working on site doing manual labor side by side to complete this project. It has been a true example of sustainable collaboration with a meaningful cause, and I cannot express enough how important it is that a project like this exists. Ultimately, we hope it will serve as a living example of the potential for sustainable earth-building technology in an area that sorely needs it.
Saturday digging party to get ready for constructing the foundation.
Hammers with handles made for us by the local carpenter next door.
View from the site of the Women's Microfinance Co-op
Stay tuned for more updates! "Like" us at Back to Earth Facebook Page and Conscious Impact Facebook Page.
Social Media Hashtags: #rammedearthnepal #dunga #steppedstonefoundation #cometonepal @consciousimpact @backtoearthcommunity
Want some more visuals of the project? Here's a short video of the last 3 weeks of work!
Bricks, bricks, bricks…beautiful, strong, inspiring bricks. Each day in Takure, we rise from our tents, share breakfast, and head once again to the training center where we make as many Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs) as possible. These bricks already built a school, and now in the coming months they will be used to build a community center, an orphanage for 18 children and local homes. This holiday season, we are renewing our commitment to these bricks and the impact that they have.
The bricks provide jobs to youth without other options. They provide earthquake-safe building resource to families seeking a way to rebuild stronger and safer homes. And they provide a symbol – of hope, of strength, of unity, and of possibility.
We ask again that you consider donating to help us continue making bricks for community members around the Sindhupalchok region. Your donation will:
Our long-term goal for the Training Center is to become a financially sustainable business run primarily by local Nepali staff, selling bricks to community members around the region. This will enable these bricks to be available for years to come and will allow for long-term employment of local youth. Each donation allows us to continue our brick production through the next months as we grow the company to serve families in need.
Before I starting working with Conscious Impact in Nepal, I was managing a cafe in Northern California. I exchanged my tip jar for a raffle ticket jar during my shifts and the other employees graciously kept the jar out on the counter during theirs. I live in wine country, so a couple weeks prior to starting my fundraiser, I called all the local wineries and restaurants in town. I even reached out to friends who offered services are masseurs, hair stylists, and horseback riding instructors. There wasn't a single person/business who turned me down when I asked for a donation. It's incredible how excited people are to give to a good cause and support folks volunteerings in their community.
I created a spreadsheet to keep track of all of the donations. When someone bought a ticket, I had them write their full name and phone number on it. Because I had a couple of months to fundraise, I left the raffle open for two months. Tickets were $5 each, so $20 for 5. I found that most people bought 5 and it gave me a great opportunity to talk about Conscious Impact.
Last year, we began a tradition of inviting yogis and yoginis to come deepen their practice here in Takure during a 10 day yoga retreat. This year, we were humbled to welcome a new group into our peaceful home once again under the instruction of the beautiful and inspiring Dharma Shakti.
The yoga retreat at Conscious Impact allows opportunities for hatha yoga (postural yoga) practice, as well as karma yoga (yoga of action or service) and bhakti yoga (yoga of devotion).
This retreat brought together a unique group of people with a variety of backgrounds, interests, and reasons for attending, all with lots of love and energy to share.
Mixing the soil, sand, and cement to make bricks is just one example the karma yoga we practice daily. Karma yoga is the practice of putting forth your best efforts with intention, but without being attached to an outcome of personal gain or reward. We were blessed with an incredible group of selfless and hardworking individuals.
Dharma Shakti of Yogalution studio in Long Beach, CA receives tika or a blessing from a local community member in Takure. Starting each morning with meditation and chanting, visiting local temples, and participating in local traditions are all part of immersing ourselves in the practice of bhakti yoga. Bhakti yoga focuses on cultivating love and devotion. Practicing bahkti yoga allows us to better connect with the divine and our higher sense of self.
We practiced hatha yoga twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening. The physical practice of hatha yoga gives us a chance to strengthen the connection between our hearts, minds, and bodies. This is especially important after putting in a lot of hard work!
When we take the time to serve ourselves by connecting and building our inner strength, we can better serve others. Our yoga practice allows us to serve Takure as we work together and rebuild this beautiful community.
The retreat may have ended, but our intention and work has not. We continue to practice service to ourselves and others everyday here in the foothills of the Himalayas. If you are interested in joining us, please learn more about the work we do, and contact us!
Brick training! Conscious Impact is very excited to welcome 4 community members from Eastern Nepal that represent the KTK-BELT Project (belt-project.org/). These guests are attending Conscious Impact's first ever Compressed Stabilized Earth Brick training week with Nepali professionals from outside of Takure, Sindhupalchowk.
Our team has been making bricks since November 27 2015, with Auroville's Auram 3000 brick making machine. Members of the KTK-BELT Project have the same machine, making knowledge transfer and experiential education practical. Today we began a 4 day training covering all of the information we have learned ourselves from the past year. The four program participants are making CSEBs alongside our 12 person staff from Takure village.
This is a special step in Conscious Impact's project evolution as it represents a scalable approach to brick making in post-earthquake Nepal. Our team can leverage our experience from this past year, making about 30,000 bricks in rural Nepal. If more organizations and networks of professionals are able to produce their own construction materials from the soil beneath their feet, Nepal can rebuild in a timely, cost effective manor with minimal environmental damage. More people in temporary shelters will be empowered to make decisions about their long term, permanent home.
Conscious Impact supports earth oriented construction methods that respect local communities and their precious resources. CSEB production and construction are means of having rural communities construct their own home with local materials. As Nepal moves forward with rebuilding from the April 25, 2015 earthquake, Conscious Impact is here to serve and teach in whatever capacity that supports localized solutions to villagers around the country.
Thank you for your support and celebrating this landmark moment in Conscious Impact Nepal's young NGO life. We look forward to sharing all we know and learning to rebuild Nepal together. Namaste.
#ComeToNepal #RebuildTakure
Video shot and edited by Jonathan H. Lee (@subtledream)
This fall, the Conscious Impact team returned to Nepal to continue our work in producing bricks and rebuilding in the village of Takure. The post-monsoon season welcomed our homecoming with lots of work to do, people to reconnect with, and festivals to celebrate.
We had the opportunity to take part in the two largest and most celebrated festivals in Nepal: Dashain and Tihar. Our participation in these festivals signifies that we are not only here to rebuild structures that were lost, but to share the celebration of cultural tradition and community ties that continue to stand strong.
The entire festival of Dashain lasts for 15 days, but the first day and last six days are the main celebration days.
Dashain celebrates the victory of good over evil and reminds us that truth and virtue will always prevail.
Animals are sacrificed and puja is offered to the Hindu goddess Durga, who defeated the evil Mahishasur.
Bamboo swings are built throughout villages in Nepal, and they're not just for children! Swinging during Dashain is meant to lift spirits and rejuvenate energy.
Even our tools receive honor during Dashain! Here, we venerate our brick press to bring good fortune and prosperity to our work.
Celebrating Dashain is focused on gathering with family and loved ones. People return home from throughout the country and the world to reconnect with one-another. We are so blessed to be able to celebrate this festival at our home in Nepal!
Along with our Nepali community, our team celebrated Tihar - the festival of lights. This five-day festival celebrates several Hindu gods and goddesses, as well as humans and animals of religious importance.
The second day of Tihar, Kukur Tihar, honors the dog. Our camp dog, Kavita, looks quite festive with her tika and garland!
Rupak and Tharendra, two of our Training Center staff members, light candles to welcome Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, into our home.
Bhai Tika is the fifth and final day of Tihar. On this day, siblings give tika to one another, which is meant to strengthen their close relationships to one another.
Uddhav, one of the local staff members at the Training Center, receives the special multi-colored tika from his sisters. Sisters give tika to their brothers to ensure long life and prosperity, as well as thank them for their protection.
Bahilo and Deusi are the performances of traditional song and dance as girls and boys go house to house. Children are given treats, but everyone enjoys the music and dancing. We were very happy to host such a large crowd at our camp for this joyous celebration!
In Nawalpur, the closest trading town to Takure where I live, is a small room where Chitra Kumari sits at her desk. Her job is to manage the accounts for more than 740 women around the region that receive savings and loans services through her cooperative. This organization has developed over the last five years, and now almost every household in the area is involved.
This year, Conscious Impact is excited to support the construction of a new office and skills development center for the Cooperative. To be built out of rammed earth, this new space will represent an organizing hub for women from across the region.
This design, made by Oliver Atwood in collaboration with Back to Earth, will demonstrate the beauty and strength of rammed earth
In addition to providing a safe space for women’s development, this project will also demonstrate the beauty, strength and affordability of rammed earth construction, a more environmentally sustainable construction technology than standard brick or cement building. Our friends Nitzan and Maya of Back to Earth will provide the expertise, and oversee the construction this fall.
Come join us in Nepal for the build this fall, and learn more at http://www.consciousimpact.org/women.
read more from Orion at his blog: orionhaas.com
In the last month, hundreds of families around the Nawalpur VDC in Sindhupalchok received 50,000 Nepali Rupees (about USD $500) each. After more than a year and a half waiting for government aid, there is a sense of relief and excitement at the money finally arriving. But what does it really mean?
In Takure, where I live, families are now left to decide how to spend these funds. The government, in partnership with Red Cross, says that these funds need to be used to build the foundation of a house. Then, once the foundation is reviewed and given approval by a government engineer, as much as USD $2500 more could be provided to the family. The expectation is that by the end of October, hundreds of families will be building the foundations to their homes.
Nodanath Mishra, one of the kindest men I know, stands next to his newly built home. Similar to those built before the earthquake, this home is made of stone and mud.
But will this USD $500 be enough to start? And most importantly, how will the homes be different than before? Can the government really oversee the earthquake-safe construction of hundreds of thousands of homes in Nepal?
As a member of a local brick-making organization producing sustainable, earthquake-safe building materials, I am interested to see how this will unfold and how, if at all, we at Conscious Impact, can be of service in Nepal.
Please share earthquake relief experiences from around Nepal and the world, and I will continue to share stories from here in Takure.
Follow more of Orion's writing on his blog, orionhaas.com
As we respond to the earthquake in Nepal, Conscious Impact must decide how to structure our work. Are we a non-profit or a for-profit? And what does that even mean?
To many, being a non-profit (also sometimes referred to as a charity or NGO), means that you are a do-gooder, motivated by social service. For-profits, on the other hand, are all about the money. While that can be true, to me the main difference is really just the tax forms: a 990-EZ and a 1023 rather than a form 8832 or 1120. Or something like that.
Really, social work can be done through a non-profit or a for-profit; it depends on what work you want to do, where your money will come from and with whom you want to work. The who, what and why…
The leaders of Conscious Impact Nepal, a local brick-making company responding to the earthquake
As we respond to the earthquake in Nepal, we are establishing both a non-profit and a for-profit, both called Conscious Impact Nepal. The for-profit will produce and sell Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs), locally-made and environmentally-sustainable building materials to rebuild homes. This private company will be owned and run by local Nepali men and women, and will be allowed to make profit (though it probably won’t for the first few years).
Conscious Impact Nepal For-Profit Logo
Conscious Impact Nepal Non-Profit Logo
The non-profit will manage any charity projects in Nepal, including school construction, that require non-profit status. It will be made up of 7 unpaid board members (a requirement in Nepal) and will be eligible to receive local and national grants.
With both entities, we are ready to work: whether making bricks, providing agricultural trainings, hosting international volunteers or building homes, we have the legal and financial structure we need.
For more information like this and other international service stories and tips, keep following: http://www.orionhaas.com. Namaste from Nepal!
After a couple month hiatus while the monsoon rained poured, we are so happy to be back in Takure. We returned to a lush and overgrown camp, the welcoming smiles of familiar faces, and more dal bhat meals than we ever thought we could consume.
Our first volunteer group for the season has arrived. Ten generous and inspiring human beings, who have flown across the world to selflessly join us in our work. We've been spending our days getting camp back in order, rebuilding steps, replacing bamboo, and making bricks. Grateful to all of our volunteers for their constant and ever-giving support and love.
The beautiful adventure of season two has begun!
Volunteers helped reopen camp with some restoration projects! Here they are passing large rocks to repair a few of our stairs in camp.
Mariana Jimenez shows volunteers how we test each batch of CSEBs during their training at the Takure Training and Production Center.
First day on the job! Mixing mixing mixing a batch of CSEBs.
Cofounders, Allen and Orion, standing proudly with their "best dancing" award they received from a community celebration.
Took this beautiful group on a day hike to Gupha to rejuvenate ourselves in the beautiful Himalayas.
I am not a fan of big machines. Bulldozers, cranes, 18-wheelers, aircraft carriers, whatever. They scare me. Maybe it’s that they have so much power, or that they at times lack finesse. Overall, I would rarely invite a big machine onto my property. But this last week, that is exactly what we did.
In order to harvest the hundreds of cubic meters of soil that we need to make 150,000+ bricks for homes in Nepal this year, we needed help. Pickaxes just aren’t quite enough. So earlier this week, we had a backhoe (not the nicest name) come for 4 hours to harvest soil and clear space. Wow, that was fast. Before I could even hyperventilate fully, the work was done. And now we have what we need for months to come. Our Nepali staff are happy, and we all know that the work ahead will be easier. Thanks machinery! Now, let’s make bricks for homes
Read more from Orion on his blog at orionhaas.com
