The Latter Day Saints Charities (LDSC) has an agreement with the Nepal Social Welfare Council to provide clean water to many villages over a three year program. We have two NGOs we work with: CHOICE, a world-wide charity that is based in Utah and helps provide expertise throughout the world to bring clean water to villages that do not have it, and the Sushma Koriala Memorial Trust (SKMT). Much of the disease and early deaths in Nepal can be traced to contaminated water. We visited one of the water projects that is in progress. The NGO for this project is the SKMT and they furnished us a van to look at the project. This project is close to Kathmandu, but it still took almost two hours going east to reach the village. The highway is under construction. The Government is widening several miles of the road to turn a two lane highway into a four lane divided highway. This is the road that goes to the Mt. Everest area. There is a large space on both sides of the old highway provided for such expansions with no permanent structures permitted in this zone; one of the few examples of good long-range planning in Nepal. We made this trip on the first day of our visit, so we had our first view of the city. We included many pictures of the sites we saw as we drove in our first blog.
The three sister missionaries ready to enjoy a shopping trip. We wore more casual clothes for the trip to the water site. Sister Borland is in the middle and Sister Earl is on the right.
A view of some of the country-side. The structure on top of the building appears to be a religious shrine of sorts.
This is the base of the water tower. The tank is installed on top of the base. It holds water from the mountain source about three miles away. The villagers have had water from this source through plastic lines, but they had no storage facility, and the source was often polluted and needed repair. Our project used new and larger lines, a storage tank, a valve system that distributed the water four different directions with new lines and brought water to 30 tap stand built in the village area. There are over 2,000 people scattered in the hills of this village, but there is no real center to the village. These are farmers, and many of the homes are on the land. Wheat and rice are grown, as well as different vegetables.
A higher view of the stand.
The water is expected to be turned into the tank in about a week. The project was supposed to have been completed last year, but monsoon weather, crop harvesting, political work stoppages, etc have made progress slower than desired. This is becoming a problem on many of the water projects. One of the challenges for our couple missionaries is to keep these projects moving and to meet with the monitors often. This area is known for its clay that makes great bricks. We saw many yards with bricks drying in the sun. Notice the brick construction on the home and on the partially completed structure in the picture.
The project director for the Trust is Karishma, a young college graduate. This is her first water project and she is learning a lot. We went to the site in a van. She rode her motorcycle, a favorite mode of transportation in the country.
The valve box that directs the water four different ways. It is hoped to have the project completed in early June. Their ceremony for the completion is called an "Inauguration". Alhough that sounds like a beginning for the project, it is really a "beginning" of clean water. The villagers all help with these projects, digging the lines, burying the pipe, building the tower and tap stands etc. In each project, the local village also contributes some part of the material so they feel ownership in the process.
The water tower is placed so the water system is gravity-flow. These three workers took time from their work to show us the way the system will work.
This is the valley with farm fields and brick yards. The water will flow to stands in this area. Note the stand in the lower center on the hill.
The cement is in and the stand is ready for a water tap to turn the water on and off.
The villagers are excited to see the project completed. These mothers and their children are common sights in these villages.
The wheat harvest is still on. Here a young woman is in charge of getting the chaff out of the wheat as she sorts the kernels from the chaff on the white cloth sheet.
Even this chicken coop is built with brick.
Most water projects include water to the schools as a high priority. Often, sanitation facilities are also built or upgaded. On this project, faculty facilities are being built by the villagers on top of the existing toilets that the students use that are built into the side of a hill.
Storage tanks to be installed on the roof of the school. Almost all homes in Kathmandu have such tanks including the missionaries' homes.
Three young boys interested is seeing who these strange white people are.
The three sister missionaries ready to enjoy a shopping trip. We wore more casual clothes for the trip to the water site. Sister Borland is in the middle and Sister Earl is on the right.
A view of some of the country-side. The structure on top of the building appears to be a religious shrine of sorts.
This is the base of the water tower. The tank is installed on top of the base. It holds water from the mountain source about three miles away. The villagers have had water from this source through plastic lines, but they had no storage facility, and the source was often polluted and needed repair. Our project used new and larger lines, a storage tank, a valve system that distributed the water four different directions with new lines and brought water to 30 tap stand built in the village area. There are over 2,000 people scattered in the hills of this village, but there is no real center to the village. These are farmers, and many of the homes are on the land. Wheat and rice are grown, as well as different vegetables.
A higher view of the stand.
The water is expected to be turned into the tank in about a week. The project was supposed to have been completed last year, but monsoon weather, crop harvesting, political work stoppages, etc have made progress slower than desired. This is becoming a problem on many of the water projects. One of the challenges for our couple missionaries is to keep these projects moving and to meet with the monitors often. This area is known for its clay that makes great bricks. We saw many yards with bricks drying in the sun. Notice the brick construction on the home and on the partially completed structure in the picture.
The project director for the Trust is Karishma, a young college graduate. This is her first water project and she is learning a lot. We went to the site in a van. She rode her motorcycle, a favorite mode of transportation in the country.
The valve box that directs the water four different ways. It is hoped to have the project completed in early June. Their ceremony for the completion is called an "Inauguration". Alhough that sounds like a beginning for the project, it is really a "beginning" of clean water. The villagers all help with these projects, digging the lines, burying the pipe, building the tower and tap stands etc. In each project, the local village also contributes some part of the material so they feel ownership in the process.
The water tower is placed so the water system is gravity-flow. These three workers took time from their work to show us the way the system will work.
This is the valley with farm fields and brick yards. The water will flow to stands in this area. Note the stand in the lower center on the hill.
The cement is in and the stand is ready for a water tap to turn the water on and off.
The villagers are excited to see the project completed. These mothers and their children are common sights in these villages.
The wheat harvest is still on. Here a young woman is in charge of getting the chaff out of the wheat as she sorts the kernels from the chaff on the white cloth sheet.
Even this chicken coop is built with brick.
Most water projects include water to the schools as a high priority. Often, sanitation facilities are also built or upgaded. On this project, faculty facilities are being built by the villagers on top of the existing toilets that the students use that are built into the side of a hill.
Storage tanks to be installed on the roof of the school. Almost all homes in Kathmandu have such tanks including the missionaries' homes.
Three young boys interested is seeing who these strange white people are.
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