The Build – Day One

I was up bright and early for the build. We start our day with breakfast at 7:30, and head out at 8:30. We were all anxious to where we’d be working. In a few minutes we’ve arrived. There’s a banner over the road and a sign on the house. There’s a brief welcome ceremony, the wife puts a string of flowers around our heads and another lady gives us a red dot on our foreheads. The people who coordinated our trip from the Nepali side say a few words, the husband also says a few things which one of the coordinators translate for us. He’s honored and happy to have us here and looks forward to building the house together.

First up the demo our tasks for the day, splitting and cleaning the bamboo that we’ll be using to weave the walls. We’re each given a Khuchkri (Nepali knife with a curved blade). The Nepali guys do the splitting today and the rest of us are cleaning the bamboo. Basically we want to make sure both sides of the bamboo are smooth so that it can be easily woven. We don’t have to skin the entire length of it, just the joints on each side.

Myself and a couple of others took our breaks to walk and and explore the area. The area we are in is primarily farmland, most houses are made in the same style as the one we are building, bamboo with mud plaster. The work pace is relaxed, we all get to know one another over a bit of chat. Some locals and children have by now taken note and watch from a distance. We’re by no means the first habitat team to visit the area, but I guess that doesn’t matter.

We eat our lunch off site, where another local family has prepared a nice selection of tasty Nepali food for us. We head back bellies full. The afternoon work progresses much the same as the morning, with bamboo cleaning, chatting and a little photo safari. When the day is finished we head back to the hotel.

A few of us decide to explore the more urban part of Ithari. By now I’ve learned the local greeting, and I press my hands together as I’d to pray, bow slightly and say ‘Namaste’, People smile and reply in kind. That’s not to imply everybody was happy to see us. There was one dog who started following us wouldn’t stop barking until we left what considered to be HIS territory which apparently lasted four or five houses. Satisfied that we got the message, he let out one last bark, as if to say ‘AND STAY OUT’ and went back to wherever he came from.

We have a nice meal at the hotel, our group overall seems really good. Everyone gets along and we all have another pleasant chat over food, reflecting on shared experiences before going back to our rooms to rest up for the next day.