Some Good News for the Holidays
I am thrilled to let you know that we started a new project in Nepal. Rebuilding a home for an earthquake-survivor family.
Normally, it takes about six months to find a family and do a full assessment, but we got lucky and were directed to this family very quickly.
It did take us a few months to look into their situation. Some of the criteria MicroAid uses to determine whether we will help a family includes what they lost in the disaster (we like to see pictures of the home before and after, if possible), whether the family owns the land (we review all the title documents), how many family members will live in the house (we like to help multi-generational families), and whether they have any other resources (if they haven’t rebuilt their home by now, it’s pretty obvious that they don’t.)
This is their home that was damaged beyond livability in the 2015 Gorkha earthquake.
They have been living in a two room rental (below) since the earthquake. It's a miracle that they didn’t have to sell their old house and land to survive.
This is what we will build. (Three floors, though, not four.)
So we are now in the process of getting construction permits from the municipality (Bhaktapur is a historic-landmark town that has many rules and regulations) and figuring out whether to buy some building materials in advance (like steel rebar and bricks) in case of price increases, in addition to thinking about fluctuating exchange rates. But all that is the nitty-gritty of a MicroAid construction project.
We’re just happy to be starting another project to help a family. MicroAid will give them a safe, comfortable home that will last for generations to come.
Thank you for being part of this life-changing work.
If you already donated this year, thank you so much. Every dollar will go towards local labor and materials.
If you are so inclined, please add to your support.
Thank you.
We’re all in this together.
Jon Ross
Founder/project manager
