The greatest need for housing in Nepal is in poor rural villages. Not only can they not afford cement and steel, it’s not practical to carry these heavy materials 1-2 days over mountain passes. We need to identify the most practical low cost earthbag building methods and create a document showing best practices.
earthquake resistant
Earthbag Building Nepal Radio Interview
Namaste Nepal Radio Show interview of Owen Geiger and Vava Pragya, the earthbag workshop coordinator who’s playing a pivotal role in organizing the training in Nepal. Interview starts at 2:20. Commercial breaks about 14:00-22:00 and 32:00-39:10.
Low Cost Earthbag Options for Nepal
Budgets are obviously limited for most every project in Nepal, while at the same time the need for affordable housing and schools is almost endless – hundreds of thousands of new, safe structures are needed. Here are a few suggestions to rebuild sustainably and affordably.
Rebuilding Nepal Sustainably: Culture, Climate and Quakes
Free PDF about how to rebuild Nepal sustainably by Patti Stouter of Build Simple.org.
Low-Cost Survival Shelter Earthship for Cyclone Pam Survivors
“Earthships can be built to create fantastic survival shelters. This simple shelter is being constructed in Te Puke (New Zealand) as part of a training program aimed at teaching survivors of Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu how to construct these robust buildings for their communities.”
Mud Ball – How I Dug Myself Out of the Daily Grind: Atulya K Bingham
6 weeks, $6,000 and plenty of dirt
“I couldn’t teach another lesson. Nor could I tolerate another day with a boss, a punch card, and the indigestion I suffered from bolting my muesli. This was why I’d spent the past five months camping in a remote Turkish field. Then the first winter storm crashed through the valley, turning my tent into a canvas pole dancer. It dawned on me I might need a house. There were only two problems: I had just $6000 left in my account, and 6 weeks before winter.”