Passive Solar Classrooms for Himalayan Children

Dear supporters,

With your generous support, we have been able to raise over $16,000 so far. This has enabled us to fund the architectural design and initial engineering analysis of the first Early Childhood Development center. We are very proud of the designs that have been prepared. You can find more details about the design on our website: https://visiondolpo.org/early-childhood-development/, and also on the updated project document on our GlobalGiving page: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/passive-solar-earth-classrooms-for-dolpo-children/.

The next steps include finalizing the design after a site visit in Dho Tarap with a group of engineers, sustainability experts, and architects scheduled for Sept-Oct 2022. Our team will run community workshops to get further input on the initial design, bring soil and other materials for lab testing in Kathmandu, and then complete a final drawing for the ECD center with detailed engineering and structural analysis and design updates based on community feedback. Our deadline for getting this final design is Dec 2022.

Our initial estimates for the construction of one ECD center cross $240,000 for Phase 1 (just the southern block of the center which can be immediately put to use to run classes and essential services), and $500,000 for both southern and northern blocks. We are now starting to approach donors (mainly embassies based in Kathmandu) to help us fund construction of either just Phase 1 or the entire ECD center. 

As informed in our previous report, our strategy for crowdfunding has now shifted from the actual construction of the ECD center to ensuring the costs for research, design, and program administration costs. Additionally, we are planning to use about $20,000 (out of the total target of $55,000 on GlobalGiving currently) to start sourcing wood and stone locally. This will enable us to begin construction right away once funding is ensured for construction. 

We are now requesting our supporters to help us cover the costs of programs until Dec 2022. For the site visit lab research and community programs, we are in need of about $3000. We require about $6000 to pay for detailed structural and engineering analysis of the campus. 

In total, we are trying to raise $9000 by end of October. And at least $2000 by end of August to ensure we can follow our current calendar of programs. We would like to request you to help us achieve this target. You can contribute more yourself, share the project with your friends and colleagues, and help us share our mission and vision. We are also eager to get your feedback and suggestions, also regarding any potential sources of funding we may look into for the construction costs. 

We have been so fortunate to have your support to enable this innovative and potentially revolutionary project, not just for Dolpo but for the entire Nepal Himalayas. With your continued support, we are sure we can successfully complete this ambitious project. 

On behalf of the whole Vision Dolpo team and our students,

Pawan Dhakal,
Project Lead, ECD program
Vision Dolpo
(pawan@visiondolpo.org)