WASH Nepal – Project Brick Kiln

Nepal’s WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) program has predominately focused on enhancing the health and wellbeing of small townships and villages throughout the country. The work that various NGO’s and INGO’s have done to improve access to satisfactory facilities is evident by the roadside signs throughout Nepal proudly proclaiming open-defecation free zones. However, it seems that whilst many remote communities have received considerable funding and attention, a sizeable demographic inside the Kathmandu Valley has subsisted beneath the radar of external support.

The Kathmandu Valley is home to approximately 60 brick kilns that produce the red sand bricks that built this city. The furnaces are fired year round, employing approximately 300 workers and their families at each site. It is easy to recognise the brick kilns by their enormous chimneys which bellow smoke on the outskirts of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. Desperate for employment, the workers come to the Valley from all throughout Nepal and even India. However, whilst the entrepreneurs who own the brick kilns supply a wage little else is provided for leaving the workers to fend for themselves. Unable to afford rent the workers build small shelters on-site from the bricks deemed unsatisfactory for sale which provide no more than a small space to sleep. With temperatures falling below zero to share such a small space probably has its benefits, but the standard of living they endure is far less than the UN Millennium Development Goals¹ aim to achieve. Whilst some families work on-site for years, it is an environment they don’t necessarily associate with as their ‘home’ and therefore many of the facilities established in their native villages – particularly appropriate latrines – are not intrinsically seen as their responsibility. Coupled with a considerable lack in hygiene education, open-defecation is paramount across the site leading to the spread of disease, significantly impacting on community health.

The lack in health and hygiene at the brick kiln sites was recognised by TDH (a Swiss NGO), and Chhimmeki (a Nepali NGO) about 12 months ago whilst undertaking a child development project in the region. Soon after a working group comprised of TDH, Chhimmeki and ENPHO (who were seconded for technical support) was established in order to address the WASH requirements of the workers and their families. Given the large number of brick kilns across the Valley, six sites were initially selected for WASH project implementation. It was determined that the main priority is to ensure the sites are open-defecation free by installing pour-flush latrines. Pour-flush latrines were selected due to the soil type and sludge management factors. Given the large number of inhabitants across the site, about 25 latrines are needed followed by social mobilisation to ensure the latrines are not just used, but used the correct way and consistently.

On January 17 2012 the project team installed the first latrine at a kiln located 2km outside of Bhaktapur. Some previous work had been completed at the site such as excavating a large pit for the effluent to flush into. The site is located on soft loamy clay which is relatively easy to construct on. A key element of WASH projects is to ensure they are sustainable for the communities. With this principle in mind local materials were used as much as possible so that the workers are able to maintain and repair the latrines without external assistance. By using local materials it is also normally far cheaper, if not free. The latrine frames were therefore built out of bamboo and the latrine slab was elevated using bricks form the construction site. Only the slab and toilet bowel were sourced from outside the area. Appropriate piping, screws and joining wire were obtained from the Bhaktapur township. The workers already possessed the necessary tools for construction.

With direction from the project team, on-site labourers set to work constructing the latrines. It was a collaborative effort with many people watching on with interest as bamboo was cut, pipework joined together and earth dug away. It only took about two hours to put the latrine slab in the ground, install the flush pipes and erect the bamboo frame. The workers stood back proud once the latrine installation was complete and were left only to ponder – who would go first?

The installation of the first latrine was a milestone for the project group and a great accomplishment. Whilst many more latrines require installation – approximately 167 across the 6 sites – the workers themselves now have the capacity to construct the remaining latrines. The owners of the sites are also involved in the project and have pledged to ensure that the necessary time and resources are made available for the workers to complete what is left of the installations. With continued efforts form all parties, it is hoped that all inhabitants, particularly the children raised onsite, will benefit from the enhanced level of hygiene.

This project is testament to the enormity of work that is still required throughout Nepal. The projects are not necessarily technological advanced – actually the simpler the technologies the more effective they usually are – but the benefits provided to communities are significant.

Matthew Gardner - Kathmandu

We're out of fuel!

I normally would approach this topic from a more observant point of view, but now that all I want to do is thump around Kathmandu I feel outraged, upset, dismayed and generally 12 years old again.

Nepal imports all of its petrol from India. The GoN (Government of Nepal) has only recently allowed privatisation of the petroleum industry so it is still largely a publicly run system. However, the NOC (Nepal Oil Corporation), subsidises petrol here - I'm not sure by how much because the tank price is still 105nrs or AUD$1.24 - which has seen them fall into huge debts with their Indian providers as they can't pay the bills. So this has meant that imports have dropped and petrol stations are literally drying up. Those that are still open and have access to some of the Government reserves, have queues of up to 5 hours long and volume limits - 5L per motorbike and about 10L per car. The transport system is in dissarray. Only half of the buses are running meaning people can;t get to work, the rubbish collection service has stopped causing rubbish to pile up, movement of stock has slowed causing supermarkets to run our of certain products, and I am unable to put petrol in my new bike and cruise the streets of KTM! It is horrendous! Luckily I have connections and sourced myself some black market petrol at 150nrs per litre - an outrageous amount really - but I got enough to enjoy my inaugural ride into work today. News has it that the shortage will be over soon as the NOC just acquired a 2.5 billion NRS loan to buy more petrol, but it is likely that queueing time will not decrease for several more days as the backlog of petrol thirsty commuters get their fill. 

The fuel shortage isn't just limited to petrol however. Kerosene which is widely used to fuel household heaters is nearly dry, as well as LPG gas which nearly everyone uses for cooking. Add water shortages and load shedding on top of the list and we'll be burning the coffee table soon to get through the night! 

The Enfield

Ever since I heard about the Enfield Bullet, I've wanted one. They look good, sound good, feel good and the idea of being able to jump on one and head to the hills over the weekend without worrying about bus departure times etc certainly had its appeal. So since arriving in KTM I've had my eyes out for one. It's harder than you think though to find the right bull! There is a lot of information out there from fanatics recommending all sorts of things but in the end you have to go with your heart. Enfields are notoriously a pain in the arse. They demand alot of attention and if you neglect them just once then you are likely to pay the price whilst out in the backwaters of Nepal. There is also alot of discussion about buying an Indian plated bike or a Nepali plated bike. As foreigners we can purchase both but there are some major differences. For one, an Indian plated Enfield will cost about half the price. That's because there are HUGE import taxes on imported vehicles into Nepal. Luckily India and Nepal have come to a deal for Indian made vehicles which decreases the tax to about 140% of the original. But if you are in Nepal and import a vehicle originating from outside India, then that tax can be as high as 200% of the original price. Incredible hey. So it can be assumed that any Nepali who owns a car is loaded. If you choose the cheaper option and buy the Indian plated bike then you will have to pay a monthly road tax of about $50. So over a year that will add up but you are still probably going to be better off. The downside of an Indian plated bike however is that you can not take it outside of India or Nepal, which means any proper road trips are out of the question. I have plans to either take this sucker to France or Australia at the end of my time here so it was important for me to keep that option open. There is also a certain amount of respect in buying an Nepali plated bike and working inside the system. Nepali's are not allowed to own an Indian plated bike so I would feel rather sheepish if I abused my title as foreigner whilst undertaking aid work in Nepal. And afterall, coming from a developed country I am one of the few guys who can actually afford to pay the exuberant taxes. So with all that in mind I decided to go the Nepali plated Enfield.

I found Him (He is still nameless - a work in progress which I figure will come to me one night in a dream), on hamrobazaar.com which is Nepal's equivalent of gumtree.com.au. It was well priced, looked alright from the blurry pics, so I figured I'd take it for a spin. I had already ridden a few other Enfields which were either outside my price range or not quite what i was after. However, in this case, it was love at first site. I had practically made up my mind to buy it before I even rode it. The black/green paint glistened and the Royal Enfield gold emblem winked at me as my jaw dropped. When I did take Him for a ride however, boy o boy did it make trying to negotiate a price difficult. I was totally sold. Some minor negotiation did occur however and after mechanics check the day later I shook hands with Razeel - the previous owner.

The hardest task was still to come however which was registering the bike in my name and converting formal ownership of the bike from Razeel to myself. In Australia this process couldn't be easier, but here it takes about two days of your time. First of all you need all the correct documentation:

- Passport and passport photocopy's
- Visa and visa photocopy's
- Licence and international licence with photocopy's
- A 'No Objection' letter from the Australian Embassy outlining that they are happy for me to own a motorbike in Nepal
- About 4 passport photo's
- 2500nrs cash

With all that done I was set to go. You wouldn't believe my luck though as on the day of getting all this paper work done, I parked my bicycle (note: push bike) outside of the passport-photo shop, went in to get the pics done, then came out 10 minutes later to an empty parking space - my bike had been stolen! They say it always happens here but I guess I never thought it would happen to me considering I had locked it up. I felt a little rough but then remembered that I was in the process I owning an Enfield - so needless-to-say I got over it quite quickly.

The next day I went to the registration office - the motorbike registration office which is different from the car registration office. It is a chaotic place with tons of people hanging around undertaking the same process. There is no chance you can do it on your own - with any pleasure anyhow - so it is much easier to pay one of the bai's (young guys about 20 years old) to do all the leg work for you. They organise insurance paperwork, ownership documentation, finger printing (I must have given about 10 different finger prints), bike inspections and so forth. With so much running around and a vaguely placed trust in the system, the only thing to do then is grab a masala tea and watch on. An eye does need to be kept on proceedings however just to make sure you are not ripped off and I am so glad that Razeel was with me to help reassure me that everything that happened was meant to happen. So after about two hours, Razeel officially passed me the blue book (literally a blue book which contains all the bikes info, previous owners photos, etc) and it was mine. All mine!

Chitwan NP - In da Jungle

Time for a bit of blog catch now on a Friday afternoon!

Two weeks ago the NAYADS (Nepal AYADS) rented a van - with driver attached - and took off south to Chitwan NP. We went the van option as we only had limited time and were told that a local bus could take up to 6 or 7 hours to cover the 150km, or only 4 hours by going the private option. So with that in mind we left from Kathmandu at about 730am Sat morning.

So here we are driving driving driving along the winding roads that scale the KTM Valley rim, eager for our first glimpse of what life outside of the surround hills is like. And before Erin could say "Ugh, I'm car sick", we got that glimpse and guess what.....life is exactly the same! OMG! Nonetheless we pushed forward, our eagerness still intact, only to join the upcoming traffic jam. Ya see - I told you nothing changes outside of the Valley!

About four hours into our trip now and we're thinking we must be getting close. The driver then pulled over to a little hillside restaurant for a break, when he mentioned that we are now halfway. Your kidding! Halfway. It took a while for the news to sink in. To make matters worse however, when we had just finished calculating how much more time we had to go, a local bus whizzed past with Nepali's sitting on the rood wooohoooing in delight as the wind past through their hair.

But alas, we arrived! And we even picked up Danielle, an EWB volunteer who is staying in a small village on route. We had booked a couple rooms in the Parkside Hotel which turned out to be a great place with a nice vibe. The group split that afternoon with the girls having booked themselves into a group package and Carole and I opting for the 'do it yourself' option. We then rented a couple of bikes and rode off to the elephant breeding centre. It was a lovely ride through some small villages with mustard fields to our right and the river to our left. Once at the elephant breeding centre we ditched our bikes and strolled across the bamboo bridge onto the island where the elephants were housed. We weren't too sure what to expect from the centre, and it was actually just aswell. With barely any information about how the centre is run and so forth, we just wandered the grounds and had a look and the various elephants hanging around eating grass. At one point however we started chatting to a group of school kids and their teachers. They had driven about 8 hours that day also to check out Sauraha (the village we were staying), and were then driving back that night! And to think i was complaining before! It was fun trying to communicate with the kids who took a real interest in us. So much so that even though there were some huge elephants just to our left, the kids decided to photograph us instead. Hilarious!

The next morning we booked ourselves into a jungle walk. We were up at 630am filled with enthusiasm about what the day would bring. It didn't take long as Gopan (the hotel guide) grabbed us from the breakfast table and lead the way past a few houses into an open field to check out a wild rhinoceros that was enjoying some fresh grass for breakfast. An amazing site and a great start to the day. After breakfast we met up with our guides - Rajendra and Krishna -  a couple of young lads who had grown up in Sauraha. They took us down to the river where we boarded a canoe made from a hollowed out walnut tree (i'm not 100% sure it was walnut. It could have been plastic) and we set off down the river. It took about 2 minutes for Rajendra to say, 'hey look over there, a couple of crocodiles'. Jesus. We had no idea there were that many crocs here and these two were about 30metres from the town! For me that seemed crazy that animals such as rhinos and crocs were naturally living so close to quite a sizeable human settlement.

I had just got my back in the perfect position to really enjoy the canoe trip (it had been about 2 hours at this stage), when we pulled off to the river bank to start the jungle tour. Carole and I marked our territory like any good land dwelling animal, applied some sunscreen, tried to find a whacking (i mean hiking) stick and set off down the jungle path. With our eyes peeled to see if there were any panthers or jaguars nestled in the trees, we realised that we might miss other jungle critters that were roaming about. So Carole and I devised a monitoring system that I had learnt  in my first year at uni, and have used many times since when working as a British Gourka in Kashmir, to make sure we had a set of eyes on the trees, left side, right side and food bag at all times. And the plan seemed to work as within about 5 minutes, Krishna motioned us to stop and keep quiet as he had spotted two sloth bears down the left side on the dirt road eating some termites. Sloth bears are thought to be extinct (they are also referred to as Dodo Bears), and have not been seen in the park for about 8 years. So this siting really was incredible which I captured on film and have since presented to the National Wildlife Association of Nepal (NWAN) at their Kathmandu office. Armed with rocks and some nasty drum n bass on my ipod, we crept closer to the bears. They were indeed chowing down on some termites which got me thinking about dal baat. The wise mother bear must have smelt my cologne and realised it was a cheap copy that i had bought at the local market place, and bolted off into the bush. The baby however had not yet acquired such a keen sense of smell and didn't mind being basked in the fragrance of Kevin Klein. The mother, now behind a thick set of bushes, all of a sudden let our a mighty roar which sounded alot like the time my own mother scolded me for hanging out with the wrong crowd, causing baby bear to also dart off into the bushes. At this point we were no more than 15metres from the bears but by the way Carole was using me as a human shield, it was probably a good thing that the bears left. I will however ensure that I apply a more socially acceptable cologne the next time I enter the jungle.

After the bears came Claudia to the spotted deer who was terribly camera shy, followed by John the Macauc monkey. John was a polite guy who swung from tree to tree like a good monkey should when there are visitors in the jungle, and didn't mind waiting for me to run and grab my camera and then dart off after him. He soon became fed up with my voyeuristic ways and swung off. Gary the rhino came next but we caught him at quite an inconvenient time as he was bathing (which takes about 3 hours), so he couldn't prepare us anything whilst we waited. We all did take a naughty peak at him as he washed behind his ears which got me thinking about how nice it would be to have a lazy bath in the jungle. So i crept a little closer to ask Gary if he'd mind if I joined him but you should have seen the look on his face! I think he may have misinterpreted my motivation for wanting to join him in the swamp, and got a little antsy with the whole idea. So I thought it better to not outstay my welcome and leave Gary until he wants to catch up again. Carole wrote our mobile numbers in the mud so that he can get ahold of us.

After such a wonderful day in the jungle catching up with everyone, we were quite exhausted and decided to sit on the rivers edge back in Sauraha and enjoy a few beers with Krishna and Rajendra. We had a blast with them and also swapped numbers under the pre-tense of catching up sometime soon, but also in case Gary had lost ours whilst getting out of the swamp.

Momo making!

What a weekend we just had. Friday night Carole and I 'took it easy' and headed into Thamel for an evening at the Delices de France - a French restaurant run by Christine which is an oasis for any Francophile living in Kathmandu. Christine really knows how to put on an evening and this was no exception with French Gypsy Jazz musician David Givone keeping us company as we chowed down a 3 course set menu. Saturday morning was spent trying to cram in some Nepali before our lesson at 12, and then getting ready for the annual US Army Marine Ball. Now it doesn't get much more over the top than this in KTM. Held at the 5 star Soatee Hotel, 12 year old Scotch constantly poured by one of the many abiding waiters, imported salmon (Nepal is a landlocked country!), speeches by various ambassadors, 400 people talking ex-oat shop, aye aye aye, it was an experience. The partying was great fun though. My stomach muscles were actually sore the next day from giving it so much on the dance floor! So needless to say it was as big night.

I was somehow up bright and early on Sunday morning with the motivation to head into town and buy myself an Indian bicycle. So hangover aside I legged it into KTM central, spent about $70AUD, and then road home on my brand spanking one geared Atlas - I'm sure to use this sucker a heap throughout the year getting too and from work and around town.

The afternoon was then spent at our incredible neighbours house making momo's! Momo's are similar to Chinese dumplings (but better!), and loved by everyone here. They come in vegetarian, chicken, and buffalo meat. Having had our fair share of momo's already, it was first on our list of Nepali foods to learn how to make. So at 2 o'clock we began our first momo making lesson from the best in the business. It was a great afternoon spent huddled together in Prabin's parents kitchen, learning about the different ingredients, laughing at how bad I was at getting the stuffing in the dough, and then consuming way to many of them once they were ready! They were delicious and just remembering them now is making me slightly hungry and has reminded me to make sure Carole doesn't eat all our leftovers which are in the fridge at home! I'll put some more info up about the recipe etc soon.

Once we had digested, we then headed to my boss's house, Rajesh, for dinner and some Nepali wine. It was a wonderful evening and the perfect end to a super weekend.

m@

Work!

A little bit now about the first week at ENPHO (Environment Public Health Organisation - www.enpho.org - for those who are interested!)

It's lunchtime on Friday at the new office. Didi (which literally means 'older sister' but is also used when referring to house keepers), has just plonked a sweet tea at my desk. She does this about three times a day which I'm starting to really get into - and partially expect (which I will have to be careful about!). I work in a building about 1 hour by public transport or 20mins by bike from where we're living. There are about 35 employees spread over 4 levels. The bottom level is admin staff, the second level is a lab, I'm on the third and share a small office with an anthropologist from Bangladesh and a Nepali intern who is about to go to Germany to complete her Masters. And then above me sits various managers and a conference room. Whilst the layout seems quite hierarchical, it is anything but with managers, interns, volunteers and other staff constantly bantering and chuckling in a sincere sense which gives the place a nice feel. There are also about another 70 staff spread throughout Nepal at rural postings. I should also mention that whilst ENPHO has a constant turnover of volunteers, besides a guy from Holland who has been here for a year and a half and is about to leave, I'm the only other volunteer......which is kind of nice ;-)

My exact assignment description has changed considerably since I first applied for the position due to staff turnover and acquisition. I have therefore spent the first week  familiarising myself with ENPHO by reading annual reports, going through some WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene) and DEWATS (Decentralised Wastewater Treatment Systems) documents, and of course getting to know the peops! With more of an idea of what and how they do things here, I went and saw my boss yesterday to try and firm up a few projects to get me going. My main area of interest is DEWATS as it specialises in wastewater treatment for developing countries in a very practical manner, taking into account the locally available resources, socio economic factors, gender, and other such fascinating aspects which we don't necessarily need to to concern ourselves with in Melbourne to any great extent. It is also an area which my Masters focused more so on so it's nice to be applying some of that knowledge! There are various DEWATS approved treatment systems which have been researched and applied in Nepal and are implemented depending on the communities circumstances, but there is also constant research to try and identify further possible forms of treatment which may be applicable in Nepal. So incredibly I have been handed over a project which uses a technique called RBC (Rotating Biological Contactor) and investigating how practicable it is at reducing contaminant loads to acceptable standards at the community level. A prototype has been put together using locally found parts (which includes parts taken from one of the many Suzuki taxis' in Nepal!). So my task is to now simulate, record, and investigate if this device can be added to one of the DEWATS systems and implemented in appropriate rural communities. Heaps of work involved in all this but for engineering/science geeks it's super exciting!

The other project is assisting Kathmandu to become prepared for a major earthquake! What on earth am I doing working on that you might say? Well let me tell you! We've been warned numerous times now that a major earthquake could happen any day. This fact was conveniently not disclosed before we arrived in the country! Estimates are that as much as 40,000 people would perish if a earthquake struck KTM due to the over population and poor construction of buildings. Scary huh. Then there is also the damage to other infrastructure such as roads, water pipes, the airport, which make an Earthquake here even more catastrophic and ranks KTM the most at risk major city in the world for earthquake disaster. Now Mum, if you are reading this please don't concern yourself - I have a go-bag packed and waiting near my door with water, muesli bars, a compass and spare underpants in case an earthquake strikes ;-)
Seven sites have been identified in KTM valley for displaced person camps which range in size, but in total could accommodate up to 300,000 people. The displaced persons will need shelter, food, and most  importantly, access to water and appropriate levels of hygiene. Due to the location of KTM it could also be up to a week before international aid arrives so god knows how long it could be before people will be able to leave the camps and become self sufficient again. So that is where I come in. Some work is already underway but I will be helping to put together a report which focuses on applying WASH practices to establish the necessary access to water given the possible sources available at those sites, locations of latrines, solid waste removal, communication and distribution of hygiene material to prevent disease spreading and so forth. This project also links in with other organisations such as OXFAM (who are coordinating the overall preparedness project), the Red Cross who have a huge presence with Nepal and also the Army who will be responsible for logistics, to name a few. This project is an absolutely massive task but it's importance is undeniable. Lets just hope all this preparation will not be necessary!

Anyhow, that's some of the initial work in a nutshell. Plenty more to come no doubt once I sink my teeth into the work that lies ahead.

m@

  

The Day to Day

Ok, so now onto more of life here in general. Lets start with...........HOME!

The program was orgnanised to give us two weeks worth of orientation before work started. In that time we had sessions on Security, Earthquakes, Health etc. We also had time to house hunt. It's pretty intense though to try and find an apartment/house you'd be happy living in for 3 months minimum without knowing much else at all! - where the parties are, how to get to the work, who your friends will be and so forth. I was therefore lucky in that someone who used to work at my organisation (ENPHO) had just moved to Bangladesh with his family to take up a position with the UNDP. Knowing my predicament, my manager - Rajesh - organised with Dr Roshan (the guy who owns the house) for Carole and I to stay there for as long as we like. Pretty neat. Now this ain't no ordinary home either. It's actually a UN accredited ECO-Home which Dr Roshan built about 10 years ago as an example of how you can live more sustainably. All power is solar or hydro, hot water is solar, organic waste is composted, grey water is filtered through reed beds and reused for toilet flushing, rainwater is collected, dug well water is pumped through a bio-sand filter and used during periods of little rainfall. Not bad huh. The only condition of living here is that I look after the house and the various eco installations - and for those who know me this is right up my alley and something that interests me greatly - although I've rarely practised it back home! Whilst a little further away from Thamel - which is the main hangout and general entertainment area, we are close to one of Kathmandu's main temples, Swayambhu, which is nestled upon a hill and boasts some of KTM's best views. This morning Carole, Prabin (the nephew of Dr Roshan) and I got up at 6am and walked around the temples perimeter for an hour or so. So nice and something we plan to do a lot more of - if not for the beauty of it but to work off my curry gut! The other bonus of living here is that we have found a special niche in the neighbourhood by being a guest of Dr Roshan. The Nepali's are very communal people so we either have various family and community folk over at our place just hanging around or we go to there's for some broken banter. Since Nepal's power is derived from Hydro, the dam's gradually drop in level during the winter months (when there is little rain), and by mid winter Nepal is without power for up to 20 hours a day! Crazy hey. Such power outages (or load shedding) have just begun so we are now without power for about 2 hours a night between 6pm and 8pm. During this time you simply head to the street, someone makes a little camp fire, and joke about. Beautiful moments. The local corner store owner brought us out some Nepali style digestive tea which contained lemon, sugar and some black salt. Sounded interesting but man alive it was horrible! The initial taste was like rotten egg before the salty lemoness kicked in. Needless to say we couldn't finish it! This morning however after our walk around the temple, the store owner invited us in for some more tea. He made a special point of telling us it was a milk tea (as I think he wanted to improve the response he got from us last night!) so we couldn't decline an went inside his kitchen to have tea. Well, what an improvement. It was delicious. A masala styled sweet tea. As we were sipping the tea, one of Prabin's friends arrived with an Enfield 350cc Bullet motorcycle. This is the exact motorbike I want to get so ofcourse we went outside to inspect. It was BEAUTIFUL. Sooooo cool. A bit of banter followed before he asked if I wanted to ride it. Ofcourse! So I took it for a spin around the block. It purred! Im def getting one - but perhaps the 500cc model ;-)

Anyhow, that's our home!

m@