Chandra Gurung Conservation Foundation€¦ · landslide, to an area called Alkhang. The school had...

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Figure1:MapofGumdaVDCandGorkhadistrictofNepal(ICIMOD1)

GumdaVDC

Asseenfromthemapabove,GumdaisincentralnorthernGorkha.TheroadhasbeenconnectedandgoesthroughBarpakandLaprak.Unfortunately,theroadisuntraversableduringthemonsoon,andthelaststopisBoluwa,fromwhichBarpakisa4-hourwalkuphill,Gumdaisanotherday-longwalkfromBarpak.

The2011CensusindicatesthatGumdahad535households,ofwhich,518wereconstructedwith‘mudbondedbricks/stone’.ThisclosetotheepicenterofBarpak,itisunlikelythatanyofthesehousessurvivedtheearthquake.Infact,peopleareconvincedthattheepicenterisactuallyinGumdaVDCbecausethereweremassivecracksandhugebouldershadexploded.

Priortotheearthquake,458householdshadtaps/pipedwater,butwatersourceshaveshiftedsincetheearthquakeandnewwaterandsanitationprogramsarealsoneededwhichJourneyHomeFoundation,alocalNGOisworkingon.

Demographically,thenumbershavenowchanged,buttheCensusstatesthatGumdahad2303residentsofwhich1061weremaleand1242werefemale.

1http://www.icimod.org/gorkha_earthquake_maps/vdcs/gorkha/gumda.jpg

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GumdaisaGurungVDC–ofthe2303residents,2220wereGurung,67werelistedasKamiand16were‘other’.

ThevicinitytotheepicenteroftheApril2015earthquakeensuredthatallbuildingsintheVDCweredestroyed.

Figure2:SomedestroyedhousesinthevillageofYamgaon

JanasewaPrimarySchool

TheliteracyrateinGumdaaccordingtotheCensuswasonly57.02%,ofthepopulationaged5andabove,only28hadcompletedtheirSLCs,11hadcompletedtheIntermediate/10+2,2hadfinishedUndergraduateandabove,andonlyhadcompletedthepost-graduateprograms.

JanasewaPrimarySchoolservesthecommunityinandaroundYamgaon(listedasYamkanginthemapabove).Theschoolhadmorestudentspriortotheearthquake,butsomemigratedduetotheearthquake,andothersweregivenscholarshipstostudyelsewhere.Yamgaonhadahighernumberoffatalitiesasresidentsofthevillagewerecaughtwhileherdinglivestock,manymorethanthesurroundingvillages.

Currently,onlythreeclassesareofferedbytheschoolwithtwoteachersondarbandi(governmentsalary).Therearenochancesoftheschoolbeingmergedwithothers,and

iftheschoolisconstructedandadditionalteachersareabletojoin,studentsfromnearbyschoolswilladdtothestudentbodyofJanasewaPrimarySchool.

Figure3:ThetemporarylearningcenteroftheJanasewaPrimarySchool

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GurungSocietyandCGCFinvolvementintheschool

CGCFandGurungSocietyhadinitiallyselectedDhansiraSecondarySchoolinGhyachchokforconstruction,butwasthenalsoselectedbyJICAforconstructionaspartoftheirpost-earthquakereconstructionaid,investingRs.5croreinthisschoolalone.Unwillingtodisplacethisaid,CGCFsearchedandtentativelyselectedNaradPokhariPrimarySchoolinBarpakforreconstruction.Althoughthecommunitywasinneed–theentirecommunityhadtomovefromitsvillageinGonje,locateddirectlyabovealandslide,toanareacalledAlkhang.Theschoolhadalsomovedtoanewlocationclosertothedisplacedsettlement.Unfortunately,thelandownerswherethecommunityhadsettledrefusedtosellthelandtothecommunity,hence,theywereunabletodecideonthelandfortheschool.Itdidnotappearthatthissituationwouldberesolvedanytimesoonsootheroptionsweresought.

SincetheNRNAwouldbebuildingtheentirevillageoftheneighboringVDCinLaprak,theschooltherewasconsideredtobeanoption,however,theyhadalreadylocatedsupporttoconstructtheschool–SunarGurung,alocalresidentwhoworkedasamountainguideinEuropehadalreadyraisedtherequiredfundingfortheschoolthere.Duringthisinteraction,CGCFmetaresidentofLaprak,theChairpersonofJourneyHomeFoundation,whowasinvolvedinsettingupthedrinkingwatersysteminGumdaVDCwhoindicatedthattherewereschoolstherethatrequiredassistanceandputCGCFincontactwithJanasewaPrimarySchool.SunarGurung’sNGO,LesAmisLaprakhas

alsogottengovernmentpermissiontoconstructtheotherprimaryschoolsinthearea.

LesAmisLaprakwasalreadyconstructingafive-roombuildingthatwasnearingcompletionwhentheearthquakestruck.Thisnewbuildingwasdestroyedcompletely.

Figure4:TheJanasewaPrimarySchoolbuildingthatwasdestroyed

Unfortunately,therewasamisunderstandingregardingthelaborcostsforthatbuilding’sconstruction,whichwasdealtwithbythecommunity,theorganizationandtheDEOinthefirsthalfof2017.

InDecember2016,CGCF’sExecutiveDirectorvisitedYamgaontodiscusstheconstructionoftheschoolandthepossibilityofchangingthename.Thisprospecthadalreadybeenbroachedwithmembersofthecommunity.Ontheirowninitiative,onememberwenttotheDistrictEducationOfficetoaskwhetherpermissionwouldbe

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grantedbythegovernmententity.TheDistrictEducationOfficerinGorkhaBazaar(theDistrictHeadquartersofGorkhadistrict)statedthatchangingthenameentirelyto‘ChandraGurungPrimarySchool’wouldnotbepossiblebutthatamodificationwould–theDistrictEducationCommitteewouldhavetohaveameetingtofinalizethisdecision.

Basedonthisinformation,thecommunityofYamgaonagreedtomodifythenameoftheschooltoChandradayaJanasewaPrimarySchool.

Tothatend,CGCFhasreceivedasigneddocumentbyall69householdsagreeingtothemodificationofthenameoftheschool.

AnengineerwasalsotakenwithCGCFforalandsurveyandsoiltesttoexpeditetheconstructionprocess.

Figure5:SchoolareawiththedestroyedbuildingaswellastheTemporaryLearningCenter

Rock/stoneandwoodareeasilyavailableinthearea,onlylaborcostsarerequiredtosourcetherawmaterials,hencethecommunitywasdeterminedthattheschoolbeconstructedusingtheselocallyavailablematerials,sothatthelaborcostscanprovideasourceofincomeforcommunitymembers.

Thecommunityhasagreedtoprovidelabor(shramdaan),todemolishtheentireexistingstructureontheirowninitiative.s

Figure6:Theentirevillagehasmovedclosertotheroadsincetheearthquakeandarestilllivingintemporarystructures,

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overlookedbyGaneshHimal

CGCFhasattainedpermissionfromtheDEO,withareferencetotheCentralLevel-ProgramImplementationUnit(CL-PIU).Unfortunately,theDistrictEducationOfficer(DEO)hasflatlystatedthattheschool’snamecannotbechangedhowever,itisthehopeofCGCFthatcontinuedsupportinYamgaonwillencouragethelocalcommunitytotakethisissueupthemselves.

AfterreturningwiththepermissionfromtheDEOinFebruary,CGCFbegantheprocessesrequiredfortherequiredpermits.AlthoughtheManasluFoundation’sdesignhadbeententativelyrequestedbythelocalcommunity,thisbuilding’sdesignswereincompleteandhencetheMinistryofEducation’s–CentralLevelProgramImplementationUnit(MoE-CLPIU),recommendedsimilarstoneandwoodstructures.

TheDEOhadalsorequiredCGCFtoconstructatleast6roomsforaschoolconducting3classes.Whenthedetailedestimatefor6roomswasproduced,evensubtractingthelocallyavailablematerial,theestimatedconstructioncostalonecrossedRs.95lakh.Asyou’reaware,whileCGCFraisedthefundsformostoftheoperationalcosts,itisnotinapositiontoraisethecostsforathirdoftheconstruction.

FurthernegotiationswiththeMoE-CLPIUledtotheirpermissioninconstructing4roomsinsteadof6.

Asofthe10thofNovember2017

OurdetailedestimatesforfourroomswerecheckedbytheengineerattheMoE-CLPIU,andbasedonhisrecommendations,arebeingmodified.Therestofthedesignshavebeenapproved.Wearealsowaitingforasummaryletterbasedonthesoiltestconducted.

Theproposalitselfitcomplete,andisawaitingthisfinalestimateinorderforthereferencetotheNationalReconstructionAuthority(NRA)tobeproducedforthetripartiteagreementbetweentheMoE-CLPIU,NRAandCGCF.

OurtripartiteagreementwiththeNRAandtheMoE-CLPIUrequiresustostarttheconstructionprocesswithintwoweeksofsigning.Wehavetentativelyfoundanengineertoworkwithusandfullysupervisetheprocessonsite,andareabletocommenceassoonastherequiredpermitsaresigned.

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AmagnificentviewofGaneshHimalfromYamgaon