During the last week of February 2025, fifteen representatives from Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati traveled to Nepal to participate in Global Village. Habitat for Humanity of Nepal is one of our Tithe Partners.
Check out our February 2025 Blueprint Newsletter to learn more about Global Village and Tithe.
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Meeting Habitat for Humanity of Nepal
Shortly after we arrived, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati staff were welcomed to Nepal by Habitat for Humanity of Nepal staff. The group toured the national office and Eliza Sthapit, national director of Habitat for Humanity Nepal shared about the current projects and goals of Habitat for Humanity of Nepal.
Beyond building homes, Habitat Nepal works to promote joint land ownership, meaning men and women are both owners of the land titles. Because of this, female Habitat homeowners have long-term security and stability through homeownership that is not widely available to women in Nepal.
Safe Housing Project
On Monday, February 24, 2025, the group traveled to the eastern region of Nepal where they worked building homes with The Safe Housing Project throughout the week. The Safe Housing Project is a partnership between Habitat for Humanity Nepal, a local NGO, Sahara Nepal, and the Kanepokhari Rural Municipality. Our tithe helps to support this project which has built 113 homes in the last two years. Other financial support comes from donations from the local community and designated funds from the municipality.
The first chair of the municipality spoke at the opening ceremony. She said that she spoke to people all over her region and that adequate housing is a top priority for almost everyone. Thanks to Habitat and Sahara Nepal, they can build many more homes than they could with municipal funds alone. She said, now, more people can “rest in peace during the nighttime.”
Meeting the Homeowners
Throughout the week, the Habitat Cincinnati team worked alongside the future homeowners in Nepal. These two families were both displaced from their community and their homes after the river flooded and are now staying in inadequate housing made of sheet metal with a dirt floor on land that doesn't belong to them.
The families experience many challenges due to their housing conditions. In monsoon season it is difficult to keep their belongings dry. Often the children don’t have dry clothes for school. In addition, they spend lots of time and money every year repairing their homes after the heavy rains. One family told us they had to make the impossible decision to keep their 7-year-old daughter home from school to watch her toddler sister so the parents could work harvesting mustard.
With their new homes, they will be safe and dry. Both families dream of a good education for their children. Without the extra expenses, they will be able to better ensure their kids can attend school and save for the future.
A Leader in Bamboo Technology
Since 2019 Habitat Nepal has been working to develop new building technology using treated bamboo. While bamboo is widely available and affordable in Nepal, the government does not yet recognize it as a home building material. Habitat Nepal is leading a collaboration between experts to develop building codes for home building with chemically treated bamboo. The building codes will make this technology available to the wider public so more people can benefit from this affordable, sustainable, and effective technology.
On Friday the Global Village group met Rajib Barma, Senior Technical Coordinator for Habitat Nepal who is helping to lead the work on bamboo technology. He recently returned from visiting Habitat in the Philippines where the two organizations shared information and building techniques.
The Global Village group from Cincinnati built homes using this new technology throughout the week. These homes are used as an example and a demonstration of the building techniques.
Building Bamboo Homes
Throughout the week, the Habitat Cincinnati team has worked building homes in the Kanepokhari Municipality in eastern Nepal.
The homes start with cement foundation built with cinderblocks made by the women in the community. Then the homes are framed with bamboo poles. Habitat staff began the week splitting and “cleaning” bamboo by shaving parts to make it flat. They then nailed strips to make lattice walls. Next they covered the walls with chicken wire. By the end of the week, they covered the walls with several layers of a cement plaster to enclose and protect the bamboo.
A detached kitchen, water pump, and detached bathroom will also be built with every home. Like in Cincinnati, Habitat homeowners work alongside volunteers and professionals to build their homes. At the end of the week, the team got to tour a neighboring area with completed Habitat homes.
