EcoBuilding in Gajner

If you told me when I was in school that at age 34, a typical day for me might include things like: strapping a shovel to my motorbike and spending the afternoon in the desert digging ditch in 40c heat; using the same motorbike to transport a leaking bag of cow manure that was sandwiched between myself and my passenger; getting my passenger to stick his head out of the window of our car and shout 'beep beep' because the car-horn does not work and planning my day carefully based on what position the shade will be on my makeshift workshop on our roof - well, perhaps I would have chosen to study something sensible like accounting.

Though I suspect, a career balancing books may not have prevented me from finding myself in this, the most unorthodox of jobs. Afterall, it's not so long since my daily routine was more along the lines of insuring houses rather than building them. How exactly does one go from being and Insurance broker to an EcoBuilder!?

While traveling through India last year, I decided to cut short my stay in Darjeeling by one day. My next step was Nepal and Darjeeling just wasn't delivering the authentic mountain life experience I was craving (mainly because the mountain air was somewhat tainted by the smell of fried chicken from the local KFC). I commenced the 24 hour overland journey to Kathmandu on April 24th 2015. I arrived in Kathmandu on the morning of April 25th, just hours before a massive 7.9 earthquake was to strike the region. My original plan was to spend 2 weeks in Nepal and to cut a very long story short, I spent the next 4 months helping in the relief effort with a number of NGOs. It was there that I discovered that I could use my hands to actually build things rather than just pen pushing and number crunching. 

Eager to explore the crazy world of NGOs a bit further and to use my newly acquired skills to some useful purpose (rather than just going home and building a garden shed) I stumbled on EcuCare India. And What can I say about my work here? Managing my own workload and that of the contractors who helped us out was certainly a challenge. As we headed in to the summer months the main challenge was always to find shade and keep hydrated. And while I'm sure my housemates didn't really appreciate me turning the rooftop in to a sprawling workshop, I like to think I've made up for this somewhat by installing a nice hammock and armchair for everyone to use as a parting gift! 

So, I'll leave you all with some pictures of my work. As for me, I have a lot of catching up to do with my friends at home. No, I don't mean catching up on gossip, I mean I'm somewhat behind on my acquisition of mortgages, nice cars, gardens and such like that all my friends have been busy accumulating while I was living my simple yet content life here in the desert. 

EcoHouse in Indra Colony 

Hammock and armchair on the intern's house roof.

Sign for the Gajner ReStore

Niall de Bhiall - Ireland

EcoBuilding Project Manager in Gajner

Eco-Building in EduCARE India

When I arrived to EduCARE in October, there were no Ecobuilding interns nor previous coordinator. Some projects were done in the past and a few more were already spotted, so it was time to start working. I was expecting to stay in Naddi but I was sent to the new centre where community engagement was the most important part of the first months in Harike. Through all these house visits and walks around the village, I was able to observe the habitability conditions of most of the families. Five factors define a slum - lack of potable water or sanitation, overcrowded houses with no durability and insecurity of tenure - and you can easily identify some of them in the communities where we work in EduCARE. Although it's a small scale, with between 40 and 120 families, reaching awareness and improving their skills to finally help them building the needed infrastructure are the right steps to make a difference.

The number of Ecobuilding interns increased in the last months what allow us to develop new ideas and projects. In December we received Niall from Ireland, who has previous experience in bamboo and earthquake construction. He came right before Christmas holidays with lots of enthusiasm and willing to start building!

In January two more interns joined our team, Faik from Cyprus and Alexis from France. They are now working hard in Rait and Naddi respectively and we'll see the results very soon! The last Ecobuilding addition was Lamia from Madagascar, who joined EduCARE a couple of weeks ago and will be starting the new centre in Rang Mahal.

Currently, we have ongoing projects in the three main areas we work on: interns' houses, furniture and community projects.

Indra´s homestay with bamboo structure and mud walls

In Harike, we are improving our centre by building a fence that will keep strangers away during work hours - they are welcome the rest of the time!, making new furniture for our common area and designing the future ReStore that will open soon. The garden keeps busy our interns in Rait, where they are planning a greenhouse and experimental vertical farming to extend to families who don't have enough space for an horizontal orchard. Faik is also making new furniture now that the centre is full. Alexis will show soon the result of the greenhouse he's been planning in Naddi, next to the nursery where the forestry team work. Finally, all the interns in Gajner are finalizing details for the ReStore launch, including furniture and a canopy made by Niall. He's also working on the ECRC design and a new homestay in Indra's colony. Two weeks ago, he delivered a three days' on site workshop for interns and community about bamboo and mud techniques, and the outcome is that the homestay is almost ready to use!

Indra's Homestay

They all are small projects that will improve the interns' stay or the communities' conditions. Hopefully we'll serve as an example to them, increase awareness and family incomes, transfer our knowledge, eliminate the stigma to some materials, adopt a more sustainable way of life for, at the end, improve their habitability conditions and dignify their lifes.

María Reyes - Spain

Ecobuilding coordinator in Harike

The interns who make EduCARE

In mid-January, six new international interns joined EduCARE; Alex (from Ireland), Sigrunn (Norway), Emma (USA), Viktoria (Germany), Lucy (USA) and Mimi (Canada). There is always a sense of nervousness and anticipation when new personnel arrive, but after a month all six have adapted to life in Naddi extremely well. Many of the projects have been given a new lease of life, with the energy brought by the new interns motivating the whole organization.

February has been a difficult month in Naddi, with periodic intervals of snow, rain, sunshine and storms. Despite these meteorological challenges, work has progressed apace. A series of productive meetings of the microfinance team (Lucy, Mimi, Sigrunn and I) have resulted in a whole host of new ideas and plans to be implemented. The ReStore has been reopened by Mimi, and a new range of products is being created and tested. After surveying consumer demand and analysing which products are not currently available in the area, Mimi has developed a series of prototypes. I am in the process of developing links with shops and cafés in McLeod Ganj who have shown interest in stocking products made in a sustainable manner by the women of the community.

Lucy has begun work on several of the microfinance projects, and has worked hard and shown a great deal of initiative in developing them in new directions. Her editing skills for the homestays booklets, committed approach to the chicken coop project and focus on community engagement in JDM community will all reap dividends for EduCARE in the future. She has also taken over running Fun Club, and has developed a host of new ideas for stimulating activities for the younger children.

The proposed EcoStore in JDM community shows how several projects can fit together within a holistic framework. An existing local shop will transition towards stocking alternative products that are not available elsewhere in Naddi. It will also stock eggs produced by the chicken coop, and many other locally sourced items. Sigrunn is working hard to develop a range of items that can be produced locally, thereby creating business for the local community and ensuring economic and environmental stability in the future. While the project is in its development stage at the moment, Sigrunn’s attention to detail and positive engagement with the community to find out their needs should ensure that the project is a great success.

All of the projects that are being developed by the new interns reflect a model of development that focuses on the needs of people on the ground and allows them to develop their capabilities and achieve self-empowerment. Such an approach is, in my opinion, the only truly sustainable one.

Rick Parfett, UK.

MicroEmpowered Project Manager