The volunteers who were part of the ‘Dharti’ initiative, led by Change Fusion Nepal, had reached Bhattedanda two weeks after the Great Quake and upon interacting with locals they realised that the locals had enough supply of relief materials  but were in desperate need of homes.

So the volunteers came up with a plan to build houses in the community.  Six volunteers were trained to build houses by Portal Bikes, an organisation dedicated to fighting poverty, and they built the first 10 houses in the first week of May. The houses are made of tin sheets, binding wires (four short pieces and four long pieces), eight rods (to provide a strong base) and arch rods (to create the structure for the frame). The shelters end up looking like zinc igloos, and according to volunteers, the first batch of houses withstood the May 12 earthquake and the storms that hit the country over the past few days.

The remaining homes were built by the community members under the supervision of volunteers who had received training from Portal Bikes. Luna Shrestha Thakur, founder of Change Fusion Nepal, said the sense of community and togetherness shown during the work was commendable.  “They were really keen on helping one another. Even after one of their houses was built, they would come help the others. The community was really together,” she said.  

 The team has also managed to create a system whereby houses situated on hilltops can access drinking water from a government-installed water system in the low-lying areas. During the construction period one of the volunteers and locals discovered that the source of the spring water had been obstructed. So they came up with a project idea to bring water from the low-lying areas. At least 30 households now have direct access to drinking water.