Starting Over in Nepal

I'm happy to announce that work has begun again in Nepal. The first 12 foundations are being laid in the village of New Kankad. The houses are being built for the Rana Tharu people whose present village sits low and is subject to annual flooding. We are building on higher ground!

Nepal was home to The Fuller Center’s first international initiative, but one that was cut short due to civil unrest. Since the

closure of that first project our partners in Nepal have been working to develop a new building site, and work is now beginning there. Special thanks are due to Samuel Tamang and B.L. Shrestha for their perseverance in the face of tremendous obstacles.

Kankad is located in the far west of the country, and while it was the site of rebel activity during the insurgency, is now at peace. We are building with the Rana Tharu, an industrious people who make their living from the land. They are quite poor, coming from an ancient system of bonded labor. One of the remarkable features of their village is its cleanliness. I was told that Tharu women spend fully half their time cleaning house, scrubbing the mud plastered walls and floors. The houses will be a little larger than we were going to build in the Terai—Rana Tharu families live in multi-generational homes and require a little more space.

The name Kankad means “sand” in Tharu and their village is located on the sandy banks of a river that regularly rises to flood the homes. Because of this the government is seeking to relocate the village. With the help of the Rural Housing Company, a public/private agency that controls a great deal of land throughout the country, an alternative site, on higher ground, was secured near to the existing village. The new village will have 63 homes and it is expected that the first 12 will be completed before the rainy season begins in early summer. The houses are being built using stabilized mud brick, which the homeowners are manufacturing on site. Our partners in the project are the Shelter and Local Technology Development Center and the Rural Housing Company. The work is overseen by the Fuller Center’s country director, Samuel Tamang.