Where exactly shall the school be built?

District Rasuwa Langtang, Village Bhorle ward no. 4. Lama Tol..

Why of all places have a new school in Langtang?

Who is involved in the Project?

Gecotec e.V. ensures funding, leads advance planning, will negotiate on site with the village council contributions of the villagers, is included in the project governance and does the accounting of the project.

Ram Kumar Tamang (NHEFoN) will find out the legal framework set by the Nepalese government, will obtain the building permission, will supervise and govern the project on site, will select craftsmen and organize provision of materials. He will check expenses and settle accounts with Gecotec e.V.

Kurt Rhyner (EcoSur) will advise us as expert with many years experience in building earthquake-safe houses in disaster areas. On site in Nepal, together with a local engineer and a specialized engineer of EcoSur coming from Nicaragua, he will initiate detail planning of the project, follow it up and advise it with respect to building technology till completion.

What is the goal and how shall the project proceed?

A rural school house shall not only provide room for teaching but in special situations serve as shelter and meeting point for the population as well. But above all it also shall serve as an example for solid and adequate building with mainly local materials and only a minimum of material purchased from elsewhere. Education or guidance of local craftsmen is important from the planning of the new buildings through to the planning of the maintenance works.

The experts of the EcoSur network will primarily analyse the local building culture and the available materials and thereby the current level of craftsmanship. Going by the pictures we have seen, we believe that stone and clay will be the predominant materials for foundations and walls, and that strengthening with reinforced concrete bars will be necessary. It seems that usually roof structures are executed propely and solidly. It must be assumed that national rules concerning size and quality of rooms exist, and new regulations on earthquake safety are expected. They will of course be taken into account in the plans.

If the population decides to contribute adequately, the plans will be drawn, and the statics will be documented and presented to the authorities. While they are being approved, it ought to be possible to not only compile a detailed cost estimate but also to get first preparations done on the building site, and to pass some technical knowledge on to the local team. The expert from EcoSur is an architect from Nicaragua who, amongst other tasks, has worked for two years on the reconstruction in Haiti. He will personally oversee the building works on site till the local team can guarantee the correct completion under guidance of Ram and a local engineer.

The cost

Experiences of Sofonia-EcoSur from many years in comparable countries lead to the following calculation:

size of the building approx. 300 square meters

300 sq m at 200€ each bring total cost including all wages and expenses up to 60,000 - 65,000€