Nepal Monitoring Report by Dale Dodge
April 27 – May 3, 2009
Introduction
I had the good fortune to be able to visit Ramechhap and tour most of the new drinking water systems that we have funded in the last 2 years. Due to the difficulty and slowness of travel, especially in rural Nepal, and due to a road closure on the final day of our tour, my 7 day monitoring mission was only 5 days. Of these 5 days, two full days were spent just getting to Ramechhap from Kathmandu, and returning. My host, Suresh, had already suggested we plan on 6 days due to ‘unexpected occurences’, of which we had a few. But on the morning of day 5, when we heard that the road to Kathmandu was to be closed on my return day (6) by a ‘bunda’ or strike, and that it may well be closed for more than 1 day, then we had to cut even another day off of the schedule.
Despite the travel problems, we were still able to visit 8 villages, talk to many villagers, talk to the main TSS field and project workers, and develop an overall impression of the project.
Daily Log
Day 1 – travel from Kathmandu to Manthali. We rented a jeep so that when we toured the villages later in the week, we had much more flexibility and could see areas where public transport does not yet reach. The jeep had problems about 3 hours from Manthali – the very rough roads had loosened the tie rods of the right front wheel and steering was almost impossible. (Photo #1) The driver monkey wrenched a solution after about an hour, and we were able to get to Manthali. Nine hours for 200 km. We stayed the night at the TSS guest house.
Day 2 – we and four TSS staff travelled to Bhumethan in the morning. There is a drinking water system being installed here and we were able to see work in progress. A ditch at least 1 kilometre long and 3 feet deep had been dug by hand, from the water source through some rough, hilly terrain, and there was about 150 metres left to get to the village standpipe location. The pipe, cement and other supplies all were in the village.
We met with the User Committee (photo #2) – 5 women (one who is chairperson) 4 men – and took questions from both them and interested villagers. The main questions were about how we could help them upgrade the physical condition of their school. I gave them some ideas, as listed later.
While here, I had a look at both the new smokeless stove that has been installed in some houses, and at the old chimneyless stove in another house. (Photo #3 – note the shiny creosote on the ceiling.)
We proceeded to Ramechhap town for lunch and then on to Bhalukhop. The drinking water system here is unique in that it is not gravity fed. Rather, the water is pumped up from 2000 feet below the village to a holding tank above the village. This project is in partnership with the VDC, or village development committee, who in turn, got their funding for the pump station from the Nepal government. The gravity system from the holding tank to the village was built by the villagers with TSS guidance. We were able to see the reservoir, the ditches in various stages of development, and the final water outlets.
The other unique aspect of this water system was that each house in the village was to have their own stand pipe or in house outlet. Excessive use or abuse of the system was governed by the use of water meters at each outlet. (Photo #4) Other User Committees were funded by equal amounts of money from each household in the village. This User Committee was funded by end users, but the amount paid was determined by the amount of water used.
At both Bhumethan and Bhalukhop, I was able to also see closed septic latrines outside of many of the houses.
For the rest of the afternoon, we went to Bhalukhop Danda where junar juice is made. We saw a water system that was built 8 years previously, and still working well. We saw many closed septic latrine houses, and also one rainwater collection system. Everything was still working well and the owners were more than willing to have us check them out. (Photo #5)
We were back in Ramechhap by about 5 pm and walked out to the government hospital. We were able to see most of the wards, the surgical area and the maternity ward. We also were lucky enough to meet one of the three doctors on staff doing his evening rounds. He had been posted to Ramechhap just recently and was to stay there for 3 years as a condition of the government having paid for his medical education. Having trained in Kathmandu with fairly up to date facilities, he was a little shell shocked by the lack of them in Ramechhap.
We stayed the night in Ramechhap at the ‘hotel’ – one room with three single beds, above the smoky kitchen, with newspaper wallpaper, and no windows. The bathroom was about 1 block away, and was not nearly as clean as the ones we had seen in the villages.
Day 3 – we travelled to Selleni. The road ends about 1 hour away from Selleni, at Charghare. It was at Charghare that the driver noticed his brakes were not working, and once stopped, that the brake fluid had all leaked away, from a broken brake line. We left him working on this problem and walked to Selleni. We saw the whole system in Sellini, from the water collection system at the source, to the .75 km of ditching and piping, to the holding tank at the edge of the village, and to the standpipe just completed days before our arrival. I was given the honour of officially turning on the tap. (Photo #6) One more standpipe was still to be located in another part of the village.
This water system was built with funds donated in memory of Rachel Chan, of Kamloops, and a plaque stating this is on both the holding tank and the stand pipe. (Photo #7) Pictures and a video were taken of the system with many of the villagers present, and these were sent to Rachel’s parents in Kamloops.
As usual, I met with the User Committee and asked and answered questions. This user committee had 4 women and 5 men.
Back at Charghare, the driver had repaired the leak and just as we arrived, a motorcycle arrived from TSS office in Manthali – 2 hours away by motorbike and 3 hours by jeep – with a new can of brake fluid. The wonder of cell phones.
We moved on to Kavrebhanjyang and dropped the jeep for the night. Another old TSS water system is in the village centre, and is still functioning well. From here we walked for 2 hours, mostly downhill, to the small village of Khadi Aap. We passed Thingre on the way, and were able to also inspect their system which was put in only last year, and once again, notice a number of closed septic latrines – all TSS funded.
We arrived in Khadi Aap in the later afternoon, but had time to see the completed holding tank and one completed stand pipe of 3 that are planned. I filled by water bottle from the new stand pipe and it took 30 seconds to fill my 1 litre bottle – so approximately a flow of 2 litres per minute. When the system is done, it will service at least 20 familes. I could not help but wonder if 2 litres/minute would even service my one family, in Canada. Khadi App had a second standpipe, put in by another organization years ago (Photo #8), but it’s water source dries up every year. The new TSS system will work year round.
Day 4. We arose early and walked the 3 hours back up the hill to Kavrebhanjyang and joined the jeep and driver again. While there, I inspected the new road which is one of many being put in all around Ramechhap. As TSS takes supplies for water systems to the road end, these roads will make it much easier for many villages to get there materials on site. Indeed, Mahesh (the field worker with us) was presented with two more applications for drinking water systems while we ate breakfast on Day 4.
After breakfast, we drove back to Ramechhap town, and then down the long hill to Manthali. We toured the TSS Hospital in Manthali – a private/public hospital developed and run by TSS. We could not help but compare it to the government hospital up at Ramechhap – this one was far better as far as facilities – and even to our own hospital in Oliver. Although still a rural, third world facility, it also offered surgery, optometry complete with lens grinding, dentistry, maternity and abortions, and the usual inpatient and emergency services. It also had a pharmacy and a lab. All patients were seen at no cost. They paid for some elective services, for glasses, and for all medications. The profit from the Pharmacy was one of the main revenue streams that paid for the expenses of the hospital. The other revenue the hospital got was from the TSS Credit Union and Co-op. The Co-op has 4500 members, and the membership agreed many times over the years to use much of the profit from the credit union services to pay for a health centre, initially, and later on, to expand and build and grow to the full service hospital it now has become.
We met the doctor, Suman, and he gave us a quick power point presentation that he had developed about the hospital. One of the most significant statistics he showed us was the drop in incidence of water borne diseases, including diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, etc. When they started to keep statistics in 1996, water borne diseases was the number one problem they encountered. Today, it is #7 on the list. A large part of this is because of the improved availability of clean water in the villages.
The Credit Union is an interesting service. They loan money out at 17% interest. We said to Suresh that that was very high, but when the c/u first started in 1998, the rate was actually 36%, the same rate as money lenders on the street charge. Over the years, the rate has slowly come down, so now it is considered a very good deal by the borrowers. The government banks actually charge less (around 9-10%), but it is very difficult for the general populace to be approved for loans from typical banks. The savings interest is also high – 9-10% for short term deposits, and as high as 13% for long term (3 year) deposits.
Before supper, we toured Manthali’s 1 km of paved main street and tried a little Nepali crokinole (a game, not a drink.) (Photo 9)
Day 5. We heard today that the road to Kathmandu will be closed on Day 6, so we decided to see one more village in the morning and then head out. We went to the first village that TSS installed a water system in – Kunauri. Their original water system is now 20 years old and still functioning very well. They have enhanced their water program by building a very large reservoir for irrigation of low lands around their village and are able to farm about 30 acres of land that was only marginally arable before. (Photo #10) Kunauri’s houses all have closed septic latrines, and most of the houses have the new smokeless stoves installed as well. It was obvious that the villagers appreciate the services that TSS has provided over the years.
After lunch with the District superintendant and his wife, we drove the 9 hours back to Kathmandu and arrived late at night.
Final Day. After my trek to Annapurna, I was able to meet with Suresh once more to discuss ideas and impressions from Ramechhap. Jagdeesh was also able to attend this meeting and I found him to be very knowledgeable, helpful and engaging. During my trek, I was able to see much of the work that ACAP (Annapurna Area Conservation Project) has done to develop the villages and organize the services in the Annapurna area. Some of their idea and methods I discussed with Suresh and Jagdeesh. The ideas that had merit are found below.
And to those of you who know Jagdeesh, he says hello.
Water Systems – New ones in Bhumethan, Bhalukhop, Selleni, Khadi App. I was able to see all of these systems, some finished, some in progress, and am satisfied that a) they will be completed by the project deadline and b) the funds are being used appropriately.
Old ones in Thingre, Bhalukhop Danda, Khavrebhanjyang, Kunauri – all are working well. I had some concerns about exposed pipe in Thingre, and with people adding their own lengths of pipe to the faucet, also in Thingre, so that they had water at their house, or in their garden. The User Committee in Thingre needs to be approached and these issues discussed. Exposed pipe, especially, invites unwanted accessing of the system.
At the three other old systems I was able to see, there were no such problems evident.
Closed Septic Toilets. Virtually every village we were in and that we passed had new toilet out buildings close to their houses. Many were TSS sponsored. It is impossible to see if all 2700 units we funded are up and running and being used. Suffice it to say that we saw many, and of the ones we were close to, or in, there was little smell and they were obviously being used.
Smokeless stoves – I was able to view various installations of the smokeless stove and we had many discussions about the ‘culture of smoke’, about how it keeps away the termites, about how the villagers view smoky rooms. After my trip to ACAP, we also talked of low stoves where it was necessary to squat in order to cook, versus high stoves where one could stand. We discussed chimneys – inside or outside, short or long – and the concept of dampers in a chimney. If we get funding for the next project, which includes installing smokeless cooking stoves, my impression is now that TSS will experiment with a number of designs that we discussed.
TSS design - is a low stove, with two burners and a chimney that exits the wall of the house about 2 feet above the cooking surface. The smoke exits, therefore, at about waist level on the wall of the house. If there is an upstairs, the smoke will then often re enter the house via windows and doors upstairs.
They are reluctant to build higher chimneys for two main reasons – the higher chimney will create too much draw and a lot of heat will escape up the chimney, and the higher chimney will be harder to maintain, if on the outside of the building, as it will tend to separate from the wall during the rainy season. I introduced the concept of a damper to Suresh and his main stove designer/builder, and have sent them a picture of an example. I also asked why the chimney could not be installed on the inside of the house rather than the outside, thus avoiding the rain altogether.
Nepal gov’t program – The Alternative Energy branch of the Nepal government is encouraging the use of higher efficiency stoves as well. Their stove is a metal stove however, and costs $100. They will subsidize the price to $50 and at ACAP, they will will subsidize another $25. Jagdeesh says that even at $25, the price is 5 times more than the TSS stove.
Improvements on TSS design to consider.
- Higher chimney, inside the house, with a damper
- Higher stove inside the house so women can stand to cook. This also allows space under the stove to store fire wood.
Next ideas
When you spend 9 hours in a bumpy jeep with a person, you have time to discuss a lot of different things. Also, when you walk 1-2 hours with a person in the hills of Ramechhap, ideas come fast and furious. And then, when you see other development projects (ACAP) and how they have approached similar problems, your ideas get even better.
1. Education – improvements to schools
Suresh first broached the school improvement idea in an email in January. TSS had been requested by certain villages to find funding for galvanized roofing and/or for cement floors for the community school. The problem with this sort of project is that it does not fit into the WNC philosophy. Rather than teaching or empowering or enabling, we would be simply giving.
In viewing the schools in the villages, there is definitely a need for improvement. And there is already a School Management Committee (SMC), which sounds much like our Parents Advisory Committee (PAC), in place. My suggestion to Suresh was to approach the SMC and have them take on improvement projects. The SMC then becomes like the User Committee that is established for the Water systems – they get organized, they get enabled, they take ownership.
We talked of possible things the SMC could take on. Floors, roofs, libraries, blackboards, solar lights, night school, adult education, and I am sure there are more. He will pursue
Solar lights
The ACAP area had just been visited by a Canadian based group called Light Up the World (LUTW) 4 weeks before my trek. Their goal is to provide solar panels, batteries and lights to small villages in various parts of the world, including Nepal. They work with small manufacturers now, in Nepal, and organize their light program much like we organize our water program. Each village has a committee, with funding from users, and a person trained to repair and maintain the systems. They would be prepared to work with us if we ever get to that point.
Suresh and Jagdeesh like the idea, in villages that already have water, latrines, and perhaps stoves. It is almost like the next step in an integrated village development plan. Kids could do school work later, adults could take night school, and on and on.
So my impressions? Were all favourable. All of my questions were answered fully and directly. All of the TSS people we were in contact with were obviously committed to their work. The doctor, Suman, who was very fluent in English, had nothing but good things to say about TSS. Jagdeesh, although, in the background now, is still much involved and certainly gives the impression that ‘his baby’ is doing well.