Days 16-17

Days 16-17 (March 16-17)

The mornings here are generally slow. We usually get up around 6 AM, have breakfast, read, write, talk, and wait for things to come. Today we thought we would be leaving early to visit a brick making business, but our trip was delayed until 1 pm. With a little time on our hands, Conrad and I decided to go to the supermarket to stock up some food items. We then realized that the Hyatt Hotel was not far, so we decided to splurge and go there. The things money can buy. The Hyatt is the perfect metaphor for this country in terms of the divide between rich and poor. As we were walking up the entrance road to the hotel, you could see a tent city on our left outside Hyatt’s fence where people have been living since the earthquake. As we passed the tent city, though, and walked closer to the hotel (the entrance road is about half a mile long) we left the street noise of Kathmandu behind. The landscape architect had cleverly designed artificial little berms that completely blocked the noise of this busy city. It even seemed to block out the smog. The hotel itself was beautiful in its architecture – all very expensive. When we entered the café, a big breakfast buffet awaited us and Conrad could not resist. On the walk in, we passed the hotel’s helipad for helicopters to land. We realized if someone came to Kathmandu by helicopter and landed next to the hotel, he or she would think Kathmandu was a very beautiful, tranquil city. The architects met their goals because here you escape the rough reality of your surroundings. It is definitely an artificial reality but a nice brief respite. In spite of the opulence, by western standards the rooms and meals were relatively inexpensive. A room could be had for $125 a night and the huge buffet was $12. About one-third of the amounts charged in comparably large cities in the West.

At 12:30, Suresh picked us up to take us to a business that sells a machine that creates interlocking blocks. It is an innovative design that permits construction of an earthquake resilient structure. The machine is human powered and so blocks can be made without the worry of finding fuel or repairing a diesel engine. The employees were very friendly and showed us around the yard. The main employee who met us explained how these blocks are made and used and then he showed us a demo house that was built nine years ago using their products. The home did not show even a crack from the earthquake last year. The reason we came was to see the block making machine in operation. The machine can be purchased for about $4,000 and a team of 3 unskilled workers can make 400 blocks a day. It takes about 5,000 blocks to build a 500 square foot structure so in 12 or so days the materials for one home can be made. The blocks have to cure for 21 days but then they are ready to be used.

The finished product costs about 30% less than typical brick and mortar or stone and mortar construction and it is earthquake resilient because of its interlocking design coupled with copious amounts of rebar. The finished product runs about $22 per square foot so the typical home would cost around $11,000. A large sum by their standards but nothing compared to construction in the West. The stone or brick and mortar design that is common here costs about $35 per square foot by comparison.

From the brick yard, we went to their architectural office to meet the team that has been involved in the housing designs and projects in different parts of Nepal. Again, a very interesting and worthwhile visit. I think we found a way to help Aparna accomplish some of her building plans. We plan to purchase one of these machines so Aparna can take it where it is needed and the villagers can start making blocks to help themselves and their communities build homes, hospitals, and schools. They will need some technical assistance but these machines will help them help themselves arrive at self sufficiency. This will mean they are not always having to wait for outside help that many never come. The Nepalese are very resilient, resourceful, and lovely people.

After the construction company, we visited some new friends that we had met a week or so ago. One woman has had a back surgery and wanted us to offer a healing prayer for her. Then we head home to Aparna’s house before the rush hour kicked in. When you live at Aparna’s, people continually come for visits and so Aparna’s house is always busy. We met a few new people who also wanted to experience the healing prayer and then capped off the evening with a lengthy conversation with a British ex-patriot who started coming here in 1971. He had some very interesting stories on Nepal in the 70’s and how he was helping people then. When he left, it was after 11 pm and we finally went to bed.

Day 17 began with our washing clothes in a bucket. We then talked to Aparna about the brick making machine. She had contacted some of her connections and found out that the brick machine can be delivered quicker than the month we had been told. Apparently, there are already several machines at the airport and she can have one. We are so excited about this turn of events. This will enable the villagers to start building a brick stock before the monsoon season arrives. One of the innovative concepts about this building process is that you do not need skilled masons to build the structure. The bricks are very similar to Legos and, while they do not snap together, they do sit securing on top of each other. The machine actually makes four types of bricks. One type has two holes in the brick where vertical rebar is inserted every five feet. One type has slots and these slotted bricks are used at the corners and for four courses during the construction of the wall. Horizontal rebar is placed inside the slotted bricks. You thus have vertical rebar and horizontal rebar throughout which gives the structure rigidity. This is what makes it earthquake resilient. Many people were killed by walls collapsing on them during the quake when the home was made of traditional rock or brick and mortar construction. This interlocking horizontal and vertical rebar design inside of the bricks keeps the walls from collapsing. After every three courses of brick, a cement slurry is poured into the bricks to seal them. Nothing very complicated once the process is shown to those building it. The simple design also cuts down on the ultimate cost because no certified labor is needed. For an additional fee, the architectures at the block office have offered training. For safety purposes, there is always an engineer on site to oversee the construction process to verify proper construction.

In the afternoon, we went with Aparna to speak to a gathering of 15 practioners from the healing profession (Aryuvedic-, Healing Touch-, Massage-, Accupressure-, Accupunture practitioners and Homeopaths). She had told them about the technique we have been taught for healing prayers and they wanted us to teach them. It was a wonderful and rewarding afternoon. We spend a little over 2 hours with them, taught them what we know, and passed this knowledge on to them by having them practice and experience what they just learned. Anyone can do this and that is the beauty of this practice. This group was very in tune with healing energy and was open to receive additional suggestions. They were very curious and asked some great questions. We are still amazed about how this trip to Nepal turned out. Even after being warned beforehand to keep an open mind and expect the unexpected, it still blows our minds how the Divine works.

To avoid Kathmandu’s rush hour after the presentation, we decided to go to the touristy part of the city. That area of town has store after store with all kinds of merchandize. The prices here are unheard of in the US – mountain gear that would cost almost $200 in the US was available here for $25. However, it was tiring to walk around as we are always being bombarded by the noise and the crush of the people. We ended up in the restaurant of a hotel where we ate some dinner before heading back to Aparna’s house. Another wonderful day in an amazing part of God’s world.