Report development project in Dhading District, May 2009

75 km west of Kathmandu we got off the local bus and trekked for 2 1/2 hours uphill to Kamalabari, a small village settled in a hilly region at an altitude of 1'100 m, where about 35 families live a poor but peaceful life. All of them are farmers and self-sufficient. They own a couple of cows, buffaloes, goats, chickens and sometimes a pig. On their fields they plant corn, rice, peanuts and a few vegetables. There are also some pear, peach and orange trees ? altogether just enough to survive. The village has a small shop that sells food, soap, batteries, tools and articles of daily use. You can also find a goldsmith, a tailor, a small restaurant and two schools. One school is run by the government and the other one is private.

We had the chance to live with one of these families, which also was the home of our interpreting guide. For us it was a wonderful experience which we will remember for a life-time. One of our responsibilities was to check the functioning of the 18 improved ovens with chimney already built by HECAC during the last six months. Before that, people used to cook over an open fire in their houses and consequently inhaled all the smoke, which caused a lot of health problems like asthma, coughs and headaches. All the families are really happy with the new oven as it is a relief on their strained health, and preparation of the meals and cooking is much faster. Moreover, they need less firewood. Nepali people have deforested huge areas of forest for firewood being unaware of the drastic consequences such as landslides which are common all over Nepal . The only downside to this environment-friendly program of making improved ovens is that the rooms are less warm during the winter season.

During our stay, we could build such an improved oven ourselves. First we made the bricks from mud, cow dung, short cut hay, rice chaff and water. After three days of drying in the sun, the bricks were ready to use. We arranged them by measuring them into the right position, mixed mud with water to put on top and between the bricks. The chimney was built with bigger bricks, then a zinc pad was rolled and stuck through the wall of the house. Finally we did a nice plasterwork with mud to finish off our job. Once completed, we were at least as proud of the brand-new improved oven as were the new owners!

Improved oven making future program

This project is still going on. 10'000 houses of 10 Village Development Committees (V.D.C.) of the District Dhading are planned. The budget to sustain this program is about US $ 185'000.