Building the childrens home Shaligram in Lhubu
The new children’s home has been built in accordance with the plans of the Munich architects Niko Rinkes and Dennis Spaeth. Our new children’s home grew stone by stone at the constriction site in Lubhu. A lot o f arduous manual work had to be done. This was in the years between 1999 until 2001. A retrospection.
Documentation of the construction
"The work proceeds quickly, the brickwork around the external walls of the blocks of buildings have started, the doors and windows have partially been integrated, sand, cement and bricks are available in a sufficient amount, there are no problems at the moment."
These news from our children’s home construction site in Lubhu in 1999 sounded like an early christmas present. Also was Christiona Schweiger, who was a prospective engineer supervising the construction progress and who regularely made a report, somebody who would not tend to whitewash reality.
Therefore, two balconies were added to the Eating & Meeting building to provide the possibility to install and to operate the solar cookers directly in front of the kitchen. Furthermore, there were problems with the electricity supply, because there had only been a two-phase connection on the terrain. A three-phase connection was necessary to be able to lay on a washing machine – a quite useful device for a home for up to 40 children.
After two years, the children’s home was heading for its completion. In February 2001, children who had been living in the old children’s home in Jawalakhel moved to Lhubu, at the southern border of the Kathmandu valley. A long time ahead already, the excitement and anticipation were present. The official inauguration was held in April 2011. The new children’s home accomodates about 40 children (at the beginning 19). Educational workshops for the children of the home and youths from the area of Lhubu are currently still in their planning phase.
The inauguration of the children’s home in Lhubu
The Nepalhilfe Beilgries has given itself an Easter gift of a special kind. On Monday afternoon (local time), the new children’s home of the aid organisation was inaugurated in the village of Lubhu, which is located around 10 kilometers in the southeast of the capital Kathmandu. Initiator Karl Rebele and several colleagues were accorded the honour of the presence of the Nepalese queen Aishwaya Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah and the crown prince Dipendra, who were among the 200 invited guests. The members of the Nepalhilfe had a cup of tea with them and were personally introduced to them. Furthermore, the nepalese social minister Kamala Panta, the german ambassador in Nepal, Rüdiger Lemp and the nepalese ambassador in Berlin Balram Singah Malla were guests at the inauguration. During the ceremony, which lasted around 1,5 hours, Rebele emphasised that this “memorable day” was for himself as well as for his colleagues, friends and acquaintances a motivation for the future.
The building in which the children and their tutors moved in January cost about € 180,000. It was built by two Munich architects in cooperation with a Nepali colleague on the premises of NHB. The construction works which started in April 1999 were carried out by local companies and completely sponsored by NHB. 19 children found a new home in this grand building which is big enough for forty girls and boys in the long turn.
The building which is erected on premises the size of 2,800 square metre is subdivided into three areas. While the first area comprises the dormitories for the children, the second houses the rooms for the Nepali employees and the German or Austrian volunteers. You can find the communication centre, the administration and boarding wing in the third area.
The NHB bought new premises close to the new children’s home in the Kathmandu valley. It is 3,000 sqm big and is thought for the erection of a Technical Training Center in 2002. Upon consolidation with the German-Nepali chamber of commerce the training of carpenters, metal workers, mechanics, radio and TV technicians, as well as electricians and electronics engineers.