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!