Site03 _ Jalpa | nepalrebuild

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Site03 | Jalpa

The last remote site I was fortunate to work at is called Jalpa, located in another remote mountainous community about 30min car ride and an hour hike from the main base. Here the set up is slightly different, as the team of roughly 20 people sleeps in the school directly adjacent to the new school building we were constructing, meaning we practically lived on site. Another 10 sleep at the camp ground on an adjacent hill, but because it is somewhat separated the campground has its own showers and common area. I slept in the school for a couple of weeks and then moved into a tent for the rest of my stay.

When I arrived, the school was nearing completion (we estimated another 4-5 weeks before it was finished). Our work during that time consisted of laying a few final courses of brick on the exterior walls, finishing the roof, soling and pouring the interior floor and the veranda, plastering interior walls and exterior decorative bands and painting. We also took up an extra community project of building a "chautara", a community gathering space. Basically it is a flat platform underneath a tree where people can gather and rest in the shade. After the chautara is complete, the community wants to construct a temple on it as well.

This school is much smaller than the other sites, as I imagine there will be less students attending it in this community. This site consists of just one building, which is a single story, subdivided into three classrooms. The TLCs (Temporary Learning Centres), which are basically bamboo and corrugated metal shelters, are located right across from the new school building and serve as temporary learning spaces for the kids. It is incredibly rewarding to see the kids every morning that will be attending the school we are building, especially when you see the conditions they are currently studying in.

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The school is nearing completion (on the left).

Our concrete mixing station. Most of the time we did not have a concrete mixer, so for most concrete pours we did the mix by hand on a constructed metal sheet; we also constructed a frame for sand sifting when we needed a less coarse mix. The roof has a primitive rain water collection system, which supplies a lot of water during monsoon season, which can be used for construction, as well as showering and washing dishes. In total, there are 3 roofs on site which are used for rainwater collection.

Forming a line to carry the metal plates filled with wet concrete to the interior of the building.

Because interior floor slab is much larger and thicker, we rented a concrete mixer for the pour of the interior. We loaded gravel, sand, cement and water into the metal piece on the left, which then got thrown into the rotating metal drum in the center and the ready mix came out on the opposite side. After additional mixing by hand to ensure proper consistency, it got divided onto metal plates and carried into the building to become a floor.

One of the bigger jobs remaining to do was completion of the interior floor slab. First, the earth was roughly leveled and covered in a single layer of brick (a process called soling). Strings were tied across the entire floor to ensure that the level is consistent from one end of the room to the other.

Locals using the chautara even before it is complete.

School in its final stages of construction (decorative plaster bands are on, exterior brick is being painted). On the left side you can see the TLCs (bamboo and metal shelters) serving as temporary classrooms.

Another set of strings is set to ensure that concrete level is consistent.

Here you can see how thick the floor slab is, and that's just the first layer. A finer, thinner layer will be added on top for a smoother final finish.

The community chautara project, the "resting place". First, you construct the exterior wall with larger stones, bonded together with mud and water. The inside of the platform is filled with earth and some rocks around the perimeter, to make sure it doesn't cave inwards. An outter layer of concrete is used to bind the entire structure together as the final step.

TLCs: current classroom conditions.

Camp site area around 5 30 in the morning, you can watch the clouds travel across the hills.

Watching the sunrise from my tent.

We poured the exterior veranda floor first. Above you can see concrete mixing done by hand.

The gravel team: providing buckets of gravel to go into the mixer.

Inside one of the classrooms- due to shortage of furniture kids sit on top of a wooden door instead of chairs and write on their backpacks instead of having desks.

All of the volunteers line up at the end of the day to 'highfive' the kids as they are leaving school.

Interior of the new school- interior partitions, drop ceiling and vibrant paint finish in every classroom.

Finished school today.

Locals are always eager to help- jumping into the line to move plates with concrete and kids sifting sand enthusiastically.

Photo by Jack Thompson

Photo by Lorraine Muckian

Photo by All Hands Volunteers

Photo by Krish Nguyen

Photo by Rahul Madrid

Photo by Lorraine Muckian