The Bimire Water Project

PROVIDE 400+ PEOPLE WITH WATER.

The village of Bimire sits at 1200 meters elevation overlooking the town of Melamchi and the Indrawati River valley. To the north sits the majestic Langtang Mountain Range, with snow-capped mountains at over 7,000 meters. Our first ever community project, the Siddhartha Primary School, was constructed in Bimire in 2016 with more than 16,000 earth bricks. Far from any main roads, Bimire families often have a harder time getting supplies and selling their produce to the bigger market towns. Despite that, they are a very active and strong community consisting of Magar, Dahal, Acharya, and other ethnic groups, and we have always been close with this community of friendly, hard working, and diverse people.

This nearly 100 household village is known for producing organic vegetables and some of the hardest workers around. The village of Bimire is where our first community project was completed and now we will partner with Bimire again to provide 400+ people safe and secure drinking water.

one water project complete & now 30 more households need water..actually wait, 80+ households!

Last year when we completed our first ever drinking water distribution project in Takure, we hoped for many things to happen: (1) increased access to water, (2) increased equity in water access, (3) community relationship building, (4) community capacity building and (5) for the government and other NGOs to learn alongside us how to effectively and efficiently provide clean water to this region. The Takure Water Project was a huge feat, taking 8 informal community access points and building a system that would support 96 households to simultaneously have access to water in their own homes. After the completion of this project, the local government, Indrawati Gaunpalika and Ward 4 officials were so impressed by the project that they asked us to support a drinking water project for a small community in Bimire of 30 households. The best part: they would partner with us and have an available budget for the project!

We quickly called on our water engineer and project manager, Krishna Adhikari, to start with a community wide meeting and needs assessment. In doing so, we discovered that the 30 homes initially requested were only a portion of the homes needing a new water distribution system. After speaking with the local government, we expanded the project to include 82 households (also expanding the budget) and conducted a feasibility study and community meeting to set an implementation plan for the project.

Community-wide meeting to establish an implementation plan and create community committees to manage the project.

THE CURRENT WATER SITUATION IN BIMIRE.

For the 400+ people that reside in Bimire, water challenges are constant. There are three sections of the community, an upper 25 household neighborhood and two lower neighborhoods consisting of around 27 households each. The upper community has one water source (natural spring) established, however it is downhill from the community, meaning that each day families walk to fetch water in plastic and metal jugs, taking up to 2 hours of work every day. Fetching water is typically done only for domestic use, and does not provide anything for agriculture.

The lower neighborhoods have access to around 4 water sources (natural springs) with community access points (or taps), however the system is disorganized and inequitable. Furthermore, the community taps are a long distance from some households, thus families still need to spend time daily to fetch water.

Community leader, Shiva Rana Magar, sits in front of the 1 established reservoir tank that stores around 10,000 liters of water. This tank, plus another that will be constructed during the project, will store water from the source to enable the community increased access to water.

A community access point (or tap) located below the upper neighborhood of Bimire where families fetch water every day or do laundry and dish washing, as pictured here.

Imagine for a moment, every bit of water you use in 1 single day.

If you are a rural Nepali farmer your list would look something like this: water to drink, water to cook (local families cook rice and lentils for 2 meals each day, both of which require water to cook), water to wash dishes, water to clean, water for showering and hand washing, clothes washing, and not to mention watering your garden that provides food for your family or giving water to your cow that produces milk daily (thus income for your family). Our assessments show that a family in Bimire on average uses 165 liters of water per day. If your house was a 10 minute walk downhill from the spring source, and you could on average carry 20 liters of water per trip (20 kgs or 40 lbs of weight), you would spend around 3 hours per day to fetch water.

Now imagine you are kid that could be studying for those 3 hours instead of fetching water and you can see the disparity caused by water limitations.

Our assessment also shows that on average each family in Bimire needs more water than the 165 liters per day, that they actual need 250 liters of water per day to accomplish their household and agricultural tasks. We are partnering with this community to make their water challenges something of the past.

This new distribution system will also allow the community to purchase access to a new spring that is about 1 km above their community. This will allow the system to be gravity fed to each home, making for easier design and longevity.

A young boy in Bimire fetches water in a metal jug that he will then take home for his family to use.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

In order to make this project a reality, we are fundraising $18,000 USD which combined with the $5,300 USD government contribution and $1,500 community contribution will be able to supply 400+ people with drinking water for years and years to come. It will enable 82 households to have increased water access and more secure water supply allowing them to produce more agricultural products leading to better income. This is a life changing project for the community of Bimire and we need your help to make it happen.

We are looking for fundraisers and donors for this project. Do you think your friends and family would be supportive of supplying water to 400+ people in rural Nepal? Become a fundraiser today! If you don’t have the time to fundraise with us, consider being a donor. Any amount helps us reach our goal and puts us closer to making Bimire’s water challenges a reality of the past.

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Each donation supports Nepali families to access water

$50 brings clean water to 1 person

$200 buys one truckload of sand

$300 brings clean water to 1 family

$1500 brings clean water to 5 homes

$3000 brings clean water to 50 people

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PROJECT BUDGET BREAKDOWN

TOTAL BUDGET $24,800 USD

OUR COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM SERVEs COMMUNITIES’ NEEDS AND DESIRES while building capacity and resilience.

When we first began our rebuilding work in 2015, we were not always sure what our work would look like, but we knew we wanted to be in support of community resilience and capacity building in addition to supporting the reconstruction of physical buildings. Our Community Infrastructure program allows communities to request the support they need to make change in their own communities, on their own terms. These projects are community-led and participatory which is a really inspiring process to watch and be a part of. Each household is required to fulfill volunteer work days or contribute to the project in some way. Community members volunteer to take on leadership roles for the project implementation and oversight and to ensure community participation and longevity of the project.

Krishna Adhikari, head engineer, and community leaders creating a resource map for the community of Bimire.

These projects are a beautiful and inspiring process, and we are grateful to have the support from so many people around the world to watch this process unfold, evolve, and impact communities positively.

thank you for all the support!

22 Moments from 2022

Take a look at our 22 best moments from 2022!

2022 was a big year for us — we completed our biggest community project and reopened volunteer programs! We are so grateful to all of the donors, volunteers, and community partners that made this amazing list of 22 moments possible. After 7 years of doing this work in Takure, we are still so inspired and committed to our mission — to connect people to themselves, to one another and to the Earth through conscious, effective and positive service work in rural Sindhupalchok. Thank you for helping to make this happen!

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1. a complete, new water system for takure

2022 was a big year for us as we completed the Takure Water Project! After nearly 5 years of discussion, 2 full years of community mobilization and government coordination, and 1 year of fundraising, it is amazing to see the 96 household taps bring water directly to every community household. We are so grateful to everyone who made this water project possible.

2. 800 kgs of coffee picked and processed

Local farmers in Takure and the surrounding villages harvested more than 800 kilograms (or 1760 pounds) of red coffee cherry this year. After 5 years of planting coffee alongside these farmers, what a joy it was to see them happy with their harvests. We hope these harvests continue to grow year after year and that local livelihoods are supported by this additional income.

There is still time to get Takure Coffee in your own home!

We would love to have you try this delicious, specialty coffee that was grown, harvested and processed by farmers in Takure. Become a monthly donor before 2023, and we will send you a 250 gram bag of freshly roasted coffee this January!

3. The 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.

4. we built a 2nd dome!

And hosted our 2nd ever Earthbag Construction Training Courses led by Mariana Jimenez. The 12 day course taught the 8 participants how to build a dome from foundation to roof plus some plastering too. As a result, we have a beautiful dome that is 4.2 meter in diameter and will happily house our long term staff and volunteers at camp.

5. twelve (12) classrooms painted

We are still brightening up rural classrooms in Nepal, supporting students to have more inspiring and engaging learning spaces. In just 4 days a team of 8 volunteers works to make 2 school classrooms for young kids beautiful, colorful and fun for learning. It is a transformative experience for all and all of our volunteers leave the projects feeling tired, but proud to see the immediate impact of their work.

6. women weaving chakatis

Sanu Kanchi Rana Magar (top left photo) is a weaver among weavers. Her hands never stop and her smile never fades. Over the past two years she along with a handful of other local women have woven hundreds of products now featured all of over the world by her customers (donors and volunteers). Recently the women’s small coaster sized “chakatis” were used in a wedding in Greece (pictured bottom left with Dolma Tamang). This was also the first year we worked with our local artisans to offer traditional weaving workshops. Sanu Kanchi Rana Magar and Dolma Tamang along with our community liaison, Narayan Mama, taught more than 65 volunteers how to weave rice straw into a coaster sized “chakati”.

7. we dug 12,000 meters of trench

To complete the water project in Takure, we dug more than 12 kilometers of trench to lay the pipe underground, that is nearly 7.5 miles. Basically a lot of work, that was only made possible by our donors like Drew Marshall, Shane McKenna, Wheeling 2 Help’s MyQuest volunteer teams, and of course the community of Takure.

8. our chinese cabbage grew bigger than kumari

Our garden spaces have really began to flourish over the past couple of years thanks to all the organic compost our Agriculture team produces via humanure, vermicompost and traditional forms. This year’s chinese cabbage grew so big, nearly as big as our Agriculture Program Coordinator, Kumari Bomjan. As a result of having such a plentiful harvest, we chopped up batches of kimchi to eat. Deliciously fermented!

9. robotic engineers in training

Our youth program partnered with Bikash Deshar for a program on “Designing and Building Simple Robots”. More than 40 high school students from Nawalpur and Aiselu Kharka schools participated in the challenges and by the end of the workshop could build simple robots from scratch using cardboard, recycled paper, super glue, some handy gadgets and batteries. The robots could jump, dance, draw and one was a hopping frog.

10. we canned sita miaju’s tasty achars

We love traditional Nepali food, the diversity, flavors, spices and local ingredients. One of our favorite aspects is the achar or pickle or fermented chutney famous in Thakali cuisine. Sita Miaju, our very own Narayan Mama’s wife, is one of the best makers of achar in Takure. She heats the oil and spices on her fire stove and uses a traditional slate stone to hand grind the ingredients. And now visiting volunteers can take Sita’s achar home with them.

11. breathtaking sunsets & himalayan views

After 7 years of being in Takure, the mountain sunsets and walks through these mid hills of the Himalayas never get old. The orange fiery sunsets and morning sunrise glows as well as the endless rice terraces make us grateful day after day.

12. school field trips to our conscious “camp”

We led 3 different site visits of local high school students to our Camp to teach about sustainability, organic agriculture and environmental science. The students were toured around our site learning from each of our program teams and doing activities like planting mushrooms, visiting the earthbag Dome and discussing ways to be environmentally aware and more sustainable.

13. More, MORE MUSHROOMS!

For the past 2 years, we have been partnering with local farmers to successfully cultivate both shiitake and oyster mushrooms for added income generating activities. We have trained more than 70 farmers and provided both technical and labor support to 25 farmers. As a result, we have also gotten pretty good at growing mushrooms at camp, such that we’ve been eating oyster mushrooms everyday!

14. white water rafting!

Every year we try and take a staff trip to a place new and full of new experiences. This year was one for the books as we went to Sekute Beach in Sindhupalchok, about 2.5 hours away from Takure and went white water rafting for Holi festival. It was hilarious and really pushed the adventure limits of our staff as many of them do not know how to swim or have ever been in a boat before. Fun times were had and we are grateful to these team bonding experiences with our one of a kind local staff.

15. local hikes to Gupha

The winter days are full of clear mountain views and sunny skies. One of our favorite local hikes is to Gupha Dada, or the Hill of Caves where rolling grassy fields meet the Langtang Mountain Range. It is about a 3 hour hike up to Gupha Danda and a 2 hour hike down, so a planned picnic and siesta at the top is a must. 

16. orphanage visits with lots of love!

The local Mother Sister Everest Children’s Home was established in 2015 after the earthquake to support children who’s families had members pass away in the devastating earthquake. We partnered with the Vita Association in 2018 to build a 12 room orphanage with kitchen and play room. The children’s home has 37 children living and staying in a safe and healthy environment. Our youth program leads activities at the orphanage to encourage play and also engage students in creative and academic subjects.

17. Shitake mushroom farming

This year we are partnered with 3 local farmers to build out full size mushroom farms with 100+ producing shiitake logs each. We are utilizing local bamboo and treating it to make a mushroom structure for each farm, supporting the farmer to cut trees appropriate for mushroom cultivation and providing 50% subsidy on the cost of mushroom spores. Additional to this, we are providing technical and labor support. It is an exciting time in the program and our Agriculture Program Coordinator, Kumari Bomjan is excited for local farmers to see the full income generating potential of these delicious and vitamin D rich mushrooms. 

18. farmer field trip to a coffee farm in kavre

Over the past 5 years of planting coffee trees with local farmers, we have learned a lot. Mostly we have learned the importance of showing a good example and allowing farmers to meet other successful farmers like Birdos Lama, a farmer in Kavre that has been growing coffee, macadamia, avocado and other fruits for the past 20 years. Birdos’s farm is full of inspiration and the 42 farmers left feeling ready to plant more trees and continue cultivating new crops for future generations of Sindhuplachok.

19. LEARNING ABOUT LOCAL herbs & AYURVEDA!

Orion Haas, co-Founder and Director of Conscious Impact, began studying Ayurvedic medicine during COVID-19. Ayurveda is the traditional medicine practice from India and Nepal that dates back thousands of years. Thanks to his passion for holistic medicine and Narayan Mama’s connection to elders in the community, they have started collecting local herbs and making medicines, like these “dry cough” herbal packed medicine balls.

20. The afterschool program expanded

Our model afterschool program at Takure Primary School is still in session and creating spaces for students to have creative and extracurricular activities. This year, our program expanded to a new primary school about 30 minutes away, Bhimsen Primary School. Last year we completed a painting project with Bhimsen and then the school principal requested more support. We showed our afterschool implementation plan and offered a training in how to implement an afterschool program on their own. After this training, the school conducted a series of sessions on their own, Conscious Impact disbursed our first ever Afterschool Program Grant to Bhimsen School. The grant has stages and implementation requirements, but we are happy to report the school has completed the first stage of implementation, and as a result have received sets of materials to continue running successful afterschool sessions.

21. we made a ton of compost!

Our agroforestry and reforestation program continued working with farmers to plant high market value fruit and coffee trees and we discovered a shortage of quality, local compost. Thus, we began producing compost with farmers right in their fields where they’ve planted trees. Our compost program worked with more than 15 farmers and trained more than 30 in techniques for improved compost production. This organic fertilizer will make the land and the trees happy.

22. we celebrated all the holidays!

After 2 years of COVID, we were excited to finally celebrate the festival season in October with the local community and also host them to celebrate our festivals too. Our lead engineer, Mariana Jimenez, always makes a traditional pinata for the local kids on Christmas morning, this year they came ready for the candy and fun!

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thank you for your continued support and love. OUR STAFF, volunteers and community partners are so grateful.

Our work is for the long term, and we are looking for donors to support our vision for multi-generational positive impact. If you would like to continue to support our work and see updates like this, please consider joining our monthly donor team, the Sustainers.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and your loved ones from our team in takure!

A Fall Season Update

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.