Day 10: Final Work Day & Dedication

We finished the house!! We spent the morning sifting more sand, plastering the few final walls while the technicians worked their magic and all that was left to do was to clean up. Then came our last meal together at the site and the festive house dedication. There were garlands made of flowers, tikas on … Continue reading →

Day 9: Plastering 201

Plaster, plaster everywhere and oh so hard to stick! Today was a continuation of the plastering we began yesterday. At the beginning it was moving so slowly we doubted we would actually finish the house. But, once we got moving today in concert with our hired technicians we were a well oiled machine! The process … Continue reading →

Day 8: Plastering 101

So, turns out plastering over bamboo isn’t all that easy! We did our best, but had to leave the finish work for the skilled technicians. The walls end up looking amazingly smooth. We have two more work days left which is difficult to believe. I would say we are bracing ourselves for the tearful goodbye … Continue reading →

Day 7: Preparing to Plaster

Today was a great day. We are almost entirely finished with the bamboo weaving. Tomorrow we will begin the final stage of plastering the walls with mortar. We pre-sifted the sand through a screen to remove the small rocks so the plaster on the walls would be smooth. There is a very tangible sense of … Continue reading →

Days 5 & 6: Weekend Site Seeing

A welcome change from the physical labor of house building, we are touring some of the well known sites around Pokhara. Saturday morning at 5am we headed up to Sarangkot. The view was spectacular – perched high above the town we watched another day dawn. As the sun – a huge blaze of orange – … Continue reading →

Day 2: Bamboo Weaving Continues

What progress we have made! Weaving bamboo while fun is also time consuming, especially with just a few simple tools. Each piece needs to be measured, cut, stripped, and then woven in between the vertical pieces. This forms a strong interior structure which will then be covered with mortar. Our team has really bonded and … Continue reading →

Day 1: Learning Bamboo Construction

After months of anticipation…we made it to the worksite! It was an amazing first day of building. We had two teams working on learning to cut, strip and weave bamboo and the other digging the pit latrine and using the dirt to backfill the foundation.

Patan

Well, all of the team has safely arrived in Nepal and we flew to Pokhara today. This morning we toured a part of Kathmandu known as Patan. It is beautiful and known as the “fine art” center of the city. I have some great video to share but having trouble uploading it! Hope for now … Continue reading →