It has now been more than a year of brick production, and we are more inspired by the potential of these Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs) than ever before. In a year, we have made more than 60,000 bricks, built a school and now have a community center and orphanage project on the horizon. We also have families from across the region ready to use these bricks for their homes. Just yesterday, we met with Chitra Kumari, the president of the women’s cooperative, and she declared again her commitment to using our bricks for her new 4-room home in the nearby town of Nawalpur.
I can’t say that this last year has been easy. Change is slow, especially when we talk about introducing a new building technology to a region with hundreds of years of established architectural and building culture. For generations, Nepalis have been using stone and mud mortar to build beautiful two and three-story homes in the mountains. But now, in the aftermath of the completely destructive earthquake, community members are forced to consider alternative building styles. Slowly, but surely, people are beginning to look to the CSEBs as an appropriate earthquake-safe solution. Just yesterday, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) came to visit our production facility as a potential partner in reconstruction!
Our long-term goal is for the Training Center to become a financially sustainable business, selling bricks at cost to community members around the region. This will enable these bricks to be available for years to come and will allow for long-term employment of local youth. For now, we are still subsidizing the cost of production, so if you or anyone that you know wants to support this work, please check out www.consciousimpact.org or go directly to our fundraiser at https://www.generosity.com/community-fundraising/bricksfornepal. Each donation allows us to continue our brick production through the next months as we grow the company to serve families in need. Thank you to everyone that has sent us love and support in this amazing journey!
How can we help? 