This Spring, Dr. Owen Geiger visited us in Nepal and spent three weeks working touring and evaluating Earthbag buildings in collaboration with Good Earth Nepal . His visit was sponsored by GLS Treuhand Bank and Schock Familien Stiftung and GEN is very grateful for their generous support in funding Dr. Geiger's visit to Nepal.

The first weeks of the tour were spent visiting current Earthbag construction sites around Nepal and evaluating the building practices, assessing building techniques and the safety of construction.

Among the villages visited was Mulabari, in Nuwakot District, where German non-profit Carisimo has built 30 Earthbag homes since September. The project emphasizes community and self reliance as the villagers not only build their own homes, but help neighbors in constructing theirs.

Good Earth Nepal is now partnering with Carisimo in a similar project where we will be building ten homes for families in the village of Kaula. More on this in the coming newsletter!

Villagers in Kaule, where Good Earth Nepal will be working with Carisimo

With Dr. Geiger, we also visited a village in Sindupalchowk where New Zealand based non-profit First Steps Himalaya is building an impressive school, as well as a round kindergarten. Prior to the earthquake, this organization had just finished building their first school which completely withstood the shocks.

Round Kindergarden by First Steps Himalaya

The tour was a great success and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Dr. Geiger, Method Ambassador and Technical Consultant to Good Earth Nepal.