Rebuilding Nepal Travel Blog

Of course, building in a country such as Nepal, with its unique geographic location amid mountains, poor transportation network and difficulty obtaining construction tools, is going to be difficult. If construction deadlines didn't pose enough of a challenge, there were a couple more issues to make the job even more interesting.

 

First of all monsoon- from June to August Nepal consistently gets heavy rain (intensity and duration depend on regions), which shortens the work day, worsens road conditions through landslides or inaccessible mountain roads and makes construction materials, food  deliveries and people transport significantly more difficult. Monsoon is also responsible for rapid land erosion. In Bachchala, the earth on the upper terrace was eroding so fast due to rain that work on the school had to be paused for some time in order to construct a massive, 90m long and 3 baskets high gabion wall to support the earth of the terrace above. Volunteers worked alongside the masons to carefully fill each basket with boulders for a tight and stable support structure. Because it was raining so heavily over night, a piece of white tarp had to be tied over the excavation where the baskets would go. This meant that during the day, the space under the tarp felt like a greenhouse. 

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Despite the monsoon, rainwater wasn't always sufficient for all of our needs (construction work, showers, dishes, toilets, laundry). Due to water shortages we were limited to a single bucket of water for showering, regardless of how dirty the work was. During certain times in late August, when it wouldn't rain for a few days in a row, that single bucket was for showering and laundry combined. It really makes you realize how precious of a resource water is. You not only begin to value it more, but learn how to use a lot less than you are used to. I found that every challenge was really an opportunity to learn something new.