This weekend, I ventured out to Takure, where my brother–in–law “Sunil Karmacharya” has been volunteering with post-earthquake relief work. Takure is in Sindupalchowk, one of the districts that were hardest hit by the earthquake, and especially the second aftershock. Read more about his work at NepalBuzz. Takure is in Sindupalchowk, one of the districts that were hardest hit by the earthquake, and especially the second aftershock.
It is difficult to reach Takure, it is about 4 hours drive from Kathmandu. The road is rough, so you need to be prepared for a bumpy ride, kicking up clouds of dust as you roll by. It is a beautiful village, with beautiful people whose lives have been overturned by the earthquake.
Hanging around in Kathmandu, it is easy to miss what is going on in the rest of Nepal. But it is the only way to gain perspective. We sit cocooned in Kathmandu, complaining about the quality of teachers in our son’s pre-school, and going to Takure was a wake-up call. There were kids with no teachers, and no school at all. For the children here, just having a school with a roof is a big deal.
Going there is an inspiration though. Conscious Impact, a United States based INGO, together with local partner YUWA Unity Nepal are hard at work here, helping people rebuild their lives in a sustainable way.
Conscious Impact was founded immediately after the April 25, 2015 earthquake in Nepal by young American trekkers who were hiking in Nepal when the earthquake struck, and found their calling in staying back and helping Nepal rebuild. Their story is inspiring.
During my visit, I saw the amazing work that the volunteers are engaged in, working leaps and bounds to restore normalcy in the small town of Takure in Sindhupalchowk. The school in Takure was completely destroyed, and these volunteers are helping the community rebuild the school.
Young people who are abroad but want to help can easily lend a hand, coming through Conscious Impact for as much time as their schedule allows. Here, they lend their tireless energy to the project. There is a lot of activity in Takure, with volunteers hard at work constructing a new school for the children. The volunteers live sparsely, in their own camps, and cook their own meals with locally sourced produce. All contribute to the rebuilding and give the villagers much needed moral support in their time of need.
To begin the reconstruction work, Conscious Impact has brought over a brick making compressor that is working around the clock to press bricks for the building phase of the school. The brick compactor uses locally available material to make Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs) that are environmentally friendly, but also strong enough for this earthquake prone area.
The bricks made using this compactor will be used to reconstruct two schools in the area. The first school, for which the work is currently underway, will, once completed, serve more than 85 students. After that work is done, the tireless volunteers will move on to the next school, also in the area.
Given the slow pace of reconstruction in many remote places of Nepal, the work done by these young people is amazing.
Here are some pictures of the work that the Takure volunteers are engaged in. Really great work!
So if you want to come to Nepal, and volunteer in the rebuilding effort, check out the pages of Conscious Impact or YUWA Unity Nepal here. Brick by brick, you will be helping build new schools so earthquake victims can rebuild their lives, and build a future.
Great article, thank you! I will have to contact Conscious Impact, it looks like they are doing some really great work there. Very inspiring how they started immediately after the earthquake.
Thanks Chad… Yes, they are great. I am so happy with them 🙂