1998 Progress Report
During the past year, we have completed Phase II of our current three year drinking water program. This phase provided assistance with the construction of gravity fed drinking water systems to fourteen more villages and brought safe water to 262 households with a population of 3,166. To bring water into the fourteen villages 52,850 meters of polyethelene pipes were needed. We have constructed 175 tapstands to further facilitate an easier access to safe drinking water. In conjunction with the drinking water program, we are also providing assistance with the construction of environmentally friendly permanent "sulabh" latrines. The response to assistance with sanitation among the benefiting villages has been overwhelming. By the end of 1997, we have received almost 500 requests for assistance with latrine construction.
In the early part of 1998, we have also completed the construction of the primary school in the Patharchok village in Ward 8 of the Dandagaon VDC illustrated below. The illustration above shows the old Patharchok school constructed by the villagers in the same location.
The school was constructed with funds donated by George Pappas and his friends. The schoolhouse is located on a steep hillside and the project required the construction of massive retaining walls to prevent erosion of the school ground.
Following the 1993 natural disaster, the floods and landslides, we have provided a substantial assistance with the rehabilitation of fields and foot trails damaged or destroyed by massive landslides. Due to our limited annual budgets, it was necessary to temporarily suspend school construction in order to provide the needed emergency relief assistance. Late in 1997, we have again suspended the field and trail rehabilitation work and resumed assistance with school and health post construction as well as the addition of facilities such as sanitation, cement pointing on interior walls, cement blackboards and cement floors to schools constructed five or more years ago. Since the majority of teachers who teach in southern Mahabharat schools come from other parts of Nepal where education is more readily accessible, they are also requesting our assistance with the construction of small kitchens.
However, the villagers are also requesting the continuation of our assistance with the rehabilitation and improvement of foot trails. In a roadless remote region, the foot trails represent important infrastructures, because they represent the only means of transportation and communication. The southern Mahabharat occupies about twenty five percent of Kabhre district's territory and the foot trails connecting the hills and villages within the region add up to several thousand miles/kilometers. With the exception of drinking water systems, we have been undertaking all other development activities with the balance of our donation revenue. We now have to contribute one half of our annual donation revenue toward the CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) supported drinking water program. With the other half of our donation revenue that is equal to one quarter of our annual budget, we are supporting all other activities. Thus, we are not always able to meet all the expressed needs of the local people all at the same time. One must also consider that fact that we are the only organization engaged in development activities in this remote region of Nepal.
In the second half of this year, we have completed the construction of the Charkilla health post facility in the Budhakhani VDC illustrated above. The Budhakhani VDC is the largest VDC in the northeastern part of southern Mahabharat. Although the villagers have chosen the Charkilla village due to its central location, for many people who live along the outer perimeter of the Budhakhani VDC, it may take several hours of walking in rugged mountain terrain to reach the facility. The Charkilla H.P. was constructed with financial assistance from Patricia Bartlett. The Charkilla village also signifies the beginning of our assistance to the villages of southern Mahabharat. It was in this village, where we had assisted with the construction of the very first primary school within the region in 1985. Charkilla was also among the very first villages to receive our assistance with a drinking water system more than a decade ago.
The above illustration shows parts of the four main ridges or hills of the Budhakhani VDC. On the second hill in the foreground is the location of the Charkilla village, near where the rainbow disappears behind the ridge.
Other projects undertaken this year was the construction of two primary schools. One in the Ahalebanspur village in Ward 8 of the Bankhu VDC, the other in the Kopintar village in Ward 4 of the Gokule VDC. The Gokule VDC spans the longest north to south distance within the region, from the very top of the Mahabharat ridge all the way down to the Sindhuli-Kabhre district boundary. Although primary schools have been established in five among the nine village wards of this VDC, it is still not possible for all Gokule children to attend school due to the distances and the very rugged mountain terrain involved to reach them. The Ahalebanspur school is being constructed with funds raised and donated by high school students from Burlington, Ontario and the Kopintar school with financial assistance by the Barwick Family Foundation.
The Phase III of our current drinking water program has
also been completed during the first half of 1998. This phase brought drinking water to 13
more villages with 220 households and a population of 1,966. The entire three-year KRD 11
program brought drinking water into 45 villages with 751 households and a population of
8,027. We have constructed a total of 428 tapstands. In order to bring water into the 45
villages, 148,400 meters (92 miles) of polyethelene pipes were needed.
Michael R. Rojik, Executive Director