1996 Progress Report
Due to the reorganization within the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) in 1995, there was a long delay in the processing
of our funding request for the new three-year phase of our drinking water program. As a
result, we were not able to provide any assistance with the construction of new water
systems during the 1995-96 fiscal year. Under the new CIDA funding guidelines, we now must
also contribute a greater share of our donation revenue toward projects for which we seek
matching contributions of government funds. This means that we now have less resources
available to undertake other activities.
The drinking water program activity during the past year was limited to the completion of projects started one year earlier. The new three-year drinking water program has been approved by CIDA in December 1995, and we are now busy to get the work on new projects started. The initial stage of all water projects involves systems design, the formation of village project committees within the recipient communities, the acquisition and production of pipes and other system components that have to be specially made to meet the specifications of individual projects, the transportation of project materials, both those donated by NSP and those donated by the benefiting villages. The second stage involves the actual project implementation.
During the past two years, next to assistance with drinking water systems, the main development priority among the Mahabharat population focused on assistance with the rehabilitation of fields and foot trails damaged or destroyed by the 1993 floods and landslides. The region's entire population subsists on the produce of their own land, therefore, their concern about food self-sufficiency is quite understandable. Furthermore, in this roadless region where communication and transportation is possible only on foot, the foot trails represent an essential infrastructure. The picture at the top of the page shows the Gokule VDC viewed from near the top of the Mahabharat ridge. The majority of major foot trails within this VDC as well as in several other VDCs of southern Mahabharat that were damaged by the 1993 floods and landslides were rehabilitated by our organization.
In 1996, we have also provided assistance with the
construction of two primary schools, one in Soktel Bhanjyang, Gokule VDC and the other in
Magar Gaon, Bankhu VDC. Both schools were constructed with funds raised and donated by two
Canadian high schools. The Soktel Primary School illustrated above was sponsored by the
Nelson Secondary School in Burlington, Ontario. The Magar Gaon school by the students from
the Smithers Secondary School in Smithers, British Columbia.
The Soktel school represents our current generation
of schools. Although constructed of mud and stone, with cement pointing applied to both
external and internal walls, cement floors, cement blackboards and fibre concrete roofing
tiles, the buildings are virtually maintenance free. The small structure on the left is a
toilet draining into a large septic tank. Inside the toilet is a running water tap and a
bucket to allow flushing it after use. We have also provided a drinking water tapstand at
the entrance into the school ground. Children from seven villages attend this school,
although two of the villages are just too far away for the children to be able to attend
school regularly.
The above illustration shows the eastern face of the Dandagaon mountain located between the Gokule and Salme Chakal VDCs in the western part of southern Mahabharat. This huge mountain also forms the entire Dandagaon VDC. During the past three years, we have assisted six villages in this VDC with the construction of drinking water systems. During our current three year drinking water program, nine more villages in this VDC are scheduled to receive our assistance with the construction of drinking water systems.
Michael R. Rojik, Executive Director