Happy Fall, happy thanksgiving!
Today, and every day, we are grateful for you for your support of our work here at Conscious Impact.
As winter approaches, we are keeping warm around the fire at night, enjoying the beautiful mountain views in the morning and working hard throughout the day. Our team has been busy this fall, and we have been so grateful to finally have our volunteer programs back!
You can read updates from all of our work (and celebrations!) below. If you would like to come join the work yourself, or know someone who does, we invite you to visit! You can also support our ongoing work by becoming a monthly donor. We are actively looking for more monthly donors to support our programs, and as a bonus, if you sign up this year, we will send you a bag of our delicious Takure coffee. We are so grateful for all the support from around the globe that makes our work possible.
THE WATER PROJECT IS COMPLETE!
After more than one year of work, the new water system delivers clean water to 95 homes 24 hours per day!
This system upgrade was a huge effort: 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) of trench dug and pipe laid, collective community action towards a common goal, and $25,000 (USD) of support from our donors. The best part is that each family now has equal and equitable access to sufficient water, relieving years of tension caused by scarce water resources.
Every time we visit a community household for dinner and wash our hands at their newly built tap, we are inspired by how community projects like this one make the lives of rural communities stronger and more resilient.
This project was such a success that the neighboring community has asked for support to build another water system. Look for more updates to come…
volunteers are back!
Our volunteer programs are running again and our community partners are so grateful! There is nothing quite like the cultural exchange and happiness our volunteer programs bring.
This month, our camp hosted 30 volunteers for our Tihar and Dome Workshop programs. We look forward to running a holiday program in December, a Natural Building course in January, and volunteer programs in February - July 2023.
Learn more and sign up at www.consciousimpact.org/volunteer and https://www.consciousimpact.org/intro-to-natural-building
dome #2
Our 2nd earthbag dome course is underway!
Did you know that more than 33% of carbon emissions worldwide are due to the construction industry? We are excited to share this sustainable construction technique to local, national, and international builders, learners, masons, engineers and architects.
This dome course will result in our 2nd dome at camp to host long term staff and team members. It also allows us to showcase how beautiful sustainable construction can be and inspire the next generation to build better for the environment.
rice harvest
We joined farmers to harvest literally tons of rice!
We love this tradition. We are grateful to local farmers for helping us connect to this land and to our food source.
This annual tradition of manually harvesting rice takes whole villages working together for a common goal. It is a beautiful process that has been done for generations in a stunning stage of golden terraces surrounded by the Himalayan mountains.
school painting project
We recently completed our 14th school painting project! This program is very popular among local schools seeking to beautify their otherwise dark classrooms with colorful visual learning aids.
Our volunteers and youth program staff travel across the district to stay 3-4 nights in a home stay and support the local school to have brighter, more educational classrooms.
It is amazing to watch the classrooms transform in just a few days, and the local students love participating and laughing throughout the project. At the end, students gather to read the letters and numbers off the wall, putting the work to immediate use.
farmers’ 1st avocado harvest!
The guacamole game this fall has been spectacular!
For years, we have worked hard with local farmers to increase access to fruit, nut and coffee trees to support more sustainable and diverse income for their families. Since 2015, we have collaborated with more than 200 local farmers to plant 3850 fruit, nut, medicine, or forest trees. Similarly to the experience with coffee trees, farmers are getting to finally taste the fruit of their labor.
In the photo on the right, a local farmer, Buddha Tamang, and his grandson, Sonam, show off their delicious avocado harvest, the 1st harvest of 17 kilograms since planting avocados trees with us 4 years ago.
school mushroom project
Recently we partnered with the Simpalkavre Secondary School, about 1.5 hours away, to teach class 8 students how to cultivate oyster mushrooms.
The students were taught the theory of mushroom cultivation and then we worked with them to pasteurize straw and prepare bags of oyster mushrooms. Each student will take home and care for this bag of mushrooms for 4-6 weeks until their family eats or sells the oyster mushrooms.
our earthbag pond
Remember when we began treating bamboo? Well we have been treating bamboo using a submersion technique with boron for 2.5 years and finally we now have a permanent pond. The best part? It’s made from earthbags, our lead engineer, Mariana Jimenez’s favorite sustainable building material.
The pond has since been plastered with cement and waterproofing agent, filled with the boron solution and more than 40 pieces of bamboo to be treated over 2 weeks. These bamboo pieces will be used to support mushroom farmers, but we are equally excited to have bamboo treatment available for other projects.
Fun for the festivals
We celebrated another season of Nepal’s festivals, Dashain and Tihar, with lots of dancing, singing, lights and colors. And of course with eating plates and plates of dal bhat with local families.
The festivals of Nepal are a unique and special time for us to connect with the local community and cherish the traditions of these communities.
“see you later” to
bishal Khaiju
After nearly 3 years of dedicated and inspiring work leading our Youth Program, Bishal Khaiju is moving on to his next adventure. Bishal has impacted and influenced the lives of hundreds of local students, inspiring their minds to be big and their hearts to be bigger. He is a one-of-a-kind educator, and it is leaders like him will take education and Nepal’s future to limitless heights.
See you later to our favorite educator, teacher, friend, mentor and brother. We wish you so much health, happiness and success in all of your future endeavors.
our work continues
As we enter our 8th year of work in Takure, we are more inspired than ever by the impact that our programs have on the local communities, volunteers, and environment. We are excited to watch the evolution and progress of our work over time and so grateful to the staff, volunteers and donors that lead this work. Our commitment is for the long-term, and while our vision is steady, our programs continue to adapt to local needs. We believe that positive change takes time, and that with consistent support more equitable and equal opportunities will arise, especially for rural communities like those in Nepal. The world’s rural communities are strong and beautiful - they are the land stewards and the food producers - and their lives deserve to be healthy, fulfilling, free and happy. We work to see them thrive.