Our New Home in Pokhara Nepal
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| Main Cities and Roads of Nepal |
What will the home we are building in Nepal look like? So many questions .
Will there be an indoor bathroom with a sit down toilet?
Will the kitchen be in the main building with refrig and oven?
Stucco, bricks, bamboo, cement blocks or ? will be exterior finish.
Floors will be wood or bamboo or concrete blocks?
What will I contribute to the construction? Will I prepare bamboo, transport materials for the heavier construction, mix the concrete or stucco, paint the interiors and exteriors, or assist with the landscape, if there is any?
Probably by now you realize that this isn't going to be our home, but a residence for a fortunate Nepalese family associated with Habitat for Humanity. Word is that Habitat for Humanity has already constructed 10,000 homes in Nepal and plans to build 100,000 more in the near future.
A group of 21 from Yakima, Washington will be helping to build a home near Pokhara, a town located one hour air time from Kathmandu. Habitat has already constructed 10,000 homes in Nepal and has plans to build 100,000 more in the near future.
Nepal, located between India and Tibet, with isolating geography is made up of 60 or more ethnic and caste groups and up to 100 different languages. So, it is hard to generalize about a 'Nepali people'.
A map would be helpful at this point. Below is a map of the country with major cities and neighboring countries. What the map does not show is the extreme diversity of geographic landscape.
The Himalayan Zone with 8 out of the 10 highest mountain peaks on earth in the north bordering with China has very limited farming and herding.
The Midland Zone which is the best place to view village life is where we will be working.
The Terai zone along the India-Nepal border which was difficult to inhabit until the eradication of malaria in the 1950's. Now half of Nepal's 30 million population live in the flat fertile lands of the Terai, which acts as the nation's industrial base. Four million Nepalis currently reside in India.
Nepal is overwhelmingly rural with 85% of people living in the countryside. Rapid rate of population growing at 2.1 puts pressure on providing food, housing, and employment. Over 50% of the population live on less than $1.25 per day. Literacy is below 50%. Government data indicate that 41% of the population lives in less than adequate housing, which consist of unsanitary and angerous structures vulnerable to fire and natural disasters.
After a long journey from Yakima to Kathmandu via Seattle, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, we will land in Kathmandu (over 2.5 million live in the Kathmandu Valley and perhaps one million in Kathmandu itself) for a short orientation with other members of our Habitat group and then fly to Pokhara in the Midland Zone for our construction project.
The powerful Himalayas and Mt Everest are often visible in the distance from Kathmandu and definitely add to its romance. Altitude change will probably be somewhat noticeable for a day or two with Kathmandu at 4500 and Pokhara 2700 feet above sea level.
The word used for greeting namaste, which means 'I greet the divine inside of you' symbolizes to me the more spiritual outlook of the Nepali world view.
Will there be an indoor bathroom with a sit down toilet?
Will the kitchen be in the main building with refrig and oven?
Stucco, bricks, bamboo, cement blocks or ? will be exterior finish.
Floors will be wood or bamboo or concrete blocks?
What will I contribute to the construction? Will I prepare bamboo, transport materials for the heavier construction, mix the concrete or stucco, paint the interiors and exteriors, or assist with the landscape, if there is any?
Probably by now you realize that this isn't going to be our home, but a residence for a fortunate Nepalese family associated with Habitat for Humanity. Word is that Habitat for Humanity has already constructed 10,000 homes in Nepal and plans to build 100,000 more in the near future.
A group of 21 from Yakima, Washington will be helping to build a home near Pokhara, a town located one hour air time from Kathmandu. Habitat has already constructed 10,000 homes in Nepal and has plans to build 100,000 more in the near future.
Nepal, located between India and Tibet, with isolating geography is made up of 60 or more ethnic and caste groups and up to 100 different languages. So, it is hard to generalize about a 'Nepali people'.
A map would be helpful at this point. Below is a map of the country with major cities and neighboring countries. What the map does not show is the extreme diversity of geographic landscape.
The Himalayan Zone with 8 out of the 10 highest mountain peaks on earth in the north bordering with China has very limited farming and herding.
The Midland Zone which is the best place to view village life is where we will be working.
The Terai zone along the India-Nepal border which was difficult to inhabit until the eradication of malaria in the 1950's. Now half of Nepal's 30 million population live in the flat fertile lands of the Terai, which acts as the nation's industrial base. Four million Nepalis currently reside in India.
Nepal is overwhelmingly rural with 85% of people living in the countryside. Rapid rate of population growing at 2.1 puts pressure on providing food, housing, and employment. Over 50% of the population live on less than $1.25 per day. Literacy is below 50%. Government data indicate that 41% of the population lives in less than adequate housing, which consist of unsanitary and angerous structures vulnerable to fire and natural disasters.
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| Nepal's Landscape |
After a long journey from Yakima to Kathmandu via Seattle, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, we will land in Kathmandu (over 2.5 million live in the Kathmandu Valley and perhaps one million in Kathmandu itself) for a short orientation with other members of our Habitat group and then fly to Pokhara in the Midland Zone for our construction project.
The powerful Himalayas and Mt Everest are often visible in the distance from Kathmandu and definitely add to its romance. Altitude change will probably be somewhat noticeable for a day or two with Kathmandu at 4500 and Pokhara 2700 feet above sea level.
The People of Nepal
The word used for greeting namaste, which means 'I greet the divine inside of you' symbolizes to me the more spiritual outlook of the Nepali world view.
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