Stichting Veldwerk at Nepal

Secretariat: Stichting Veldwerk Postbus 163 1850 AD Heiloo The Netherlands

Tel:+31 (0)72-5339585 veldwerk@gmail.com IBAN nr. NL51ABNA0543703266 Attn. Stichting Veldwerk, p/a Egmond Binnen Bank: ABN-Amro 543703266

June 2007

Construction progress, June 2007

Almost finished......

Today it is already June 5^th and within one week the construction of the school should be finished. Last week I didn't look like that was going to happen, so I called the constructor to remind him that he is already 8 weeks late. The opening is planned for June 15^th, from today exactly ten days left. And then it needs to be decorated and put into use!

The constructor told me this weekend that he was frightened by my last message and that he spend two hours calling to get everyone to hurry. Apparently it helped, because all of a sudden things started to move again.

The painters returned with extra help, the colors were confirmed once again and they got started: the walls, the window-frames and the iron rafters. For the colors we asked the advice of the Dutch women from the Early Childhood Education Centre here in Kathmandu, were our teachers also attended an training. Sweet and friendly colors, the bottom part in gloss paint, so that dirty children handprints can be washed of easily.

The Septic tank is constructed, the large and heavy concrete covers are put on top and now the maintenance holes and the lids of the wells are constructed. From the inside it is smooth now and plastered water-resistant in Portland cement, so that is ok as well. Almost ready for use!

The iron frame of the hot water solar boiler is adjusted and the installation is now finally placed. The bathrooms are ready for use and the toilet for disabled people is completed according to my conditions. We still have to see if my plans will work in practice, but I am pretty sure they will.

I brought the showerheads (telephone shape) of all four showers from the Netherlands; they are 40 to 60% water-saving. That saves a lot and therefore we will be very economically with the available water of the solar boiler.

Flushing the toilet happens with an ingenious system which minimizes the amount of water used.
However, because of the high pressure the toilet will get clean. That is because we chose for a Nepali style toilet, in Europe known as a French toilet. This uses less water and is easy to keep clean and therefore is much more hygienic. And you sure need it in a country as Nepal, where habits concerning hygiene are different...

At the gallery the last part is being tiled. It took quite a long time for the supplier to deliver the floor-tiles, but they are almost all there now. Just only the roofing-tiles are still to come. They are coming from the same supplier from Bhaktapur. The largest load has arrived, but still not all. The roofing-tiles supplier is almost overwrought now, lets see.

The stairs to enter our building from the garden is almost finished as well, including the wheelchair access, so the disabled children and woman can easily reach the building and the adjusted toilet as well.

In the mean time al our new teachers together with Aunty and our colleague Verena went shopping for all necessaries for the school and the women's training centrum. When the building is ready and the carpet is laid we can start decorating immediately! Perfect!

Friday June 15^th; the big day and the start of the contact centrum with 35 children from very poor families and the start of part one of our women training project.
Despite all the frustration you can ran into in Nepal with these kinds of big activities, these results are why we do all the work!

The last news about the construction will follow next week, after the opening.

René Veldt,
Foundation Fieldwork “action speaks louder than words”.

Kathmandu-Nepal.