![The final finished structure of the two room earthbag school in Nepal. [The earthbag walls were] done in ten days by three paid labourers and 5-7 volunteers from the village.](https://naturalbuildingblog.com/wp-content/uploads/GMIN-earthbag-school1.jpg)
GMIN has built about 21 schools so far in Nepal out of various materials such as adobe, stone and earthbags. Successful fundraising will enable them to build another 20.
“School #18, Ciuridara, Dang, Nepal
Our volunteer Bidya Bajracharya had surveyed this village last year but could not support them with the required two rooms as they did not have rocks nearby and their mud quality was not good enough to make mudbricks. But after meeting Peter Jensen, also a Denmark GMIN ambassador has come up with the solution of building with earthbags. With this earthbag style we can build even in the most remote areas where there are no rocks and poor quality mud.
GMIN is a registered nonprofit organization in the USA and was founded by energetic and dedicated individuals who want to see changes made from a Grassroot level in Nepal. GMIN is based in New York City. We use local knowledge and collective intelligence to address the pressing issues of Nepalese society.”
More photos of the earthbag school in Nepal
Grassroot Movement in Nepal
Here’s a video of the project:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-_dc1pYKBU
The link is visible when I view the comment. I’m not sure why you can’t see it. Unless you’re “chicken” to look at it? (That’s a joke… it will make more sense when you view the video.)
I see. It’s a video. Videos don’t show up in the admin page.
Looks like as good of a place as any to drop this link.
Who says earthbag building can’t be entertaining?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvthk1WBjFg
What link?
Those walls are so straight! I had to look at the additional pictures in order to believe it was really made of earth bags. I guess I am just used to seeing rounded earth bag structures.
Tubes make flatter walls than bags, plus they probably used quite a bit of plaster. Some cultures and some builders want perfect, flat walls.
Good. Building something positive.
This is an extremely productive organization. Not very many groups are so successful, especially in harsh, difficult conditions. Imagine carrying materials in by hand over rugged mountain trails, digging in rocky soil, etc. And, they do good work.
Earthbag building makes sense in Nepal due to the earthquakes and lack of roads to remote locations that make transporting materials very difficult. Search our blog for previous stories on earthbag schools, houses and orphanages in Nepal.