One year after the Nepalese earthquake of April 2015, four months after the start of building works, the new school building in Bhorle/ Langtang/ Nepal is completed, and since 5/15/2016 it is in use.

Cost of planning, building, approvals, wages, furniture and equipment:

91,554€ - donated by individual donors and foundations from Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Five classrooms for 85 children, a staffroom, a paved school yard which will be used for village events as well, two toilets, a shower and two water supply points have been erected from the donations. The building was planned earthquake-proof according to international standards by the Swiss society EcoSur under the leadership of professor Dr. Kurt Rhyner, and during the first eight weeks its construction was overseen on the site by EcoSur engineer Moncho Gonzales. It was built in the typical style of the region. In the process numerous new insights, in particular concerning earthquake safety, could be brought to bear.

Likewise a new understanding with respect to pedagogic work could be imparted to the extent that this can be accepted in Nepal. This includes that tables and benches no longer are connected firmly which means that children can determine the distance between bench and table more individually. For the first time, the furniture enables group learning, makes outdoor lessons possible, and can be used for events. The classroom of the kindergarten is equipped with a durable carpet. Thus the small children can sit on the ground as they are used to from home while they participate in the lessons. Besides, they have the possibility to take their after-lunch nap in the classroom.

The classrooms have two large windows each and thus are bright and friendly. Additionally they are equipped with lights so that in the dark season as well good lighting is available. The walls and ceilings are painted white, providing additional brightness. The sanitary installations were renovated, a shower and two washbasins were fitted providing all children with the opportunity for a certain level of body hygiene. A concrete school yard now makes physical education possible as well as activities comprising more than one class, and outdoor lessons.

A caretaker has been employed be the village council to keep the site in good condition.

80% of the tasks were executed by local craftsmen, 20% by experts from Kathmandu because the local craftsmen are not trained in the techniques (painters, interior decorators, electricians). The biggest part of the donations thus helps the Bhorle region in a twofold way.

During the building phase, nobody was injured!

On 5/13/2016, after final inspection passed without any complaints, approval of the building by Rasuwa district was obtained.

The school now has been handed over into possession of the government / Rasuwa district / Bhorle school committee. Maintenance and school supervision now are obligation of the district.

For the inauguration of the school no representative of the district showed up, contrary to promises. We did not admit politicians who wanted to participate in the inauguration because previously no interest had been shown from their side, and according to experience, participation only would have been used for their own image building.

Construction manager Ram Kumar Tamang of NHEFoN lived in Bhorle for four months.

He:

• checked works daily, was responsible for adherence to the building plans

• briefed the co-workers and checked their achievements

• dismissed unsuitable workers (consumption of alcohol before and during work was the reason)

• introduced performance-related payment

• executed and checked wage payments, undertook provision and payment of materials

• took care of the relationships with school committee and teachers, was in continuous contact with all involved and made the steps of the implementation transparent to them

• regularly exchanged information with Gecotec e.V. and EcoSur,

• drew up the final accounts, presented them to Gecotec, and submitted them to the financial authorities in Kathmandu for inspection.

Going by Nepalese standards, he surely went new ways with this type of construction management which also would be beneficial to some German or Swiss building project. New friends he surely could not win this way but instead the unconditional respect of all involved.

Conclusion and Critique

The joint undertaking of NHEFoN and Gecotec e.V, in cooperation with the Swiss society EcoSur to reconstruct in the district Rasuwa- Bhorle a destroyed school in good, earthquake-proof quality, was 100% successful. The persistent cooperation of all who carried responsibility, and, last not least, the large and fast financial support from individual donors and foundations have transformed a project into a manifest result.

We definitely could never have achieved this in such quality and in this time span without our partner Ram Kumar Tamang/ NHEFoN. Thank you, Ram!

While still under construction, the result already was examined by many NGOs and appraised as outstanding. The population and the teaching staff have taken on the new school with pride. After all, everyone involved had contributed to the success. They notice the difference for the children and they recognize the school as a new centre in an otherwise very scattered village.

Their own dwellings, which to 90% still are destroyed, are far from being fit for human habitation.

We are concerned about the general situation in the regions affected by the earthquake:

Approx. four billion Euro are waiting in government accounts. Larger NGOs effectively were dispossessed by the government and had to park their donations in government accounts.

We passed through remote villages which to this day have not received any support. This is not just a question of money but also of concrete instruction on how to transform the chaos into habitations in regional style suitable for humans, how to assess landslides, how to newly border destroyed fields.

In this entire process, earthquake-proof building only is icing on the cake for most people, and, going by our experience, the poor people in the mountains don’t attribute any real importance to it. But it falls into the responsibilities of the government for its people all the same.

The government has hired 5000 engineers but we have not heard of a single one to have visited the people in the villages in order to help and to develop specific plans.

Besides the casualties which are to be bemoaned because of the earthquake nobody talks of the dead who lost their lives because reconstruction did not take place.

Causes are the extremely cold winter without a roof over the head, destroyed water pipes, foul water in consequence, faeces in the water because almost all toilets have been destroyed, malnutrition because of destroyed fields. Last year, the rain season has increased infections and pulmonary diseases very much.

There are computations according to which more people died by indirect consequences of the earthquake than by the earthquake itself, in particular in the mountain areas.

We know that we are among the first NGOs to have built a permanent building in such quality in the mountain region of Langtang. The school- and residential buildings put up as first aid measures will presumably become permanent in very many cases. The motivation of relief organizations to keep on with aid in Nepal is substantially being put to the test.

Some reasons for this are:

• the missing joint concept of the governing parties how aid should be deployed,

• the patent harassment by building authorities, which we experienced as well,

• the uncoordinated responsibilities

• the omnipresent networks which put their own interest above that of others, which put caste membership above competence

• surely often also the basic religious attitude to rather accept things than to actively revolt, to see fate as a message from the gods, to accept the next earthquake as a punishment or a probation. These perhaps are reasons that there are no revolts in Nepal, and that people easily acquiesce, especially the poor of the lower castes.

But despite of these difficulties which we experienced and which must be named, we have done for these 85 children exactly the right thing with the successful combination of German / Swiss exactness, determination, professional skill, the necessary Nepalese equanimity and also with a portion of trust in God.

The development of Nepal is close to our hearts, but it remains Nepal’s development. We have to respect its speed.

Anne Peter - President, Gecotec e.V. and
Jan Keijsers - Delegate for Nepal, Gecotec e.V.