Hi Visma,
Good talking to you earlier. Just to recap on the call from today and actions agreed:
1.- Concept based on a modular system. Each unit has 2 rooms and each room accommodates 6 children (in bunk beds). Concept based on 120/125 children. Assumptions:
- For each 24 kids, we are planning 1 toilet room and 1 wash room. Action: Visma to confirm Western/Asian toilet and how many toilets and to confirm if shower and washbin are both required. Suggestion from architects, if bio-gas is required, is that all toilets are dry (Asian) and no flush is required.
- Visma to confirm if bio-gas system is required from the outset and if this would use both human and animal waste from the Namaste village. Is there a budget/sponsorship for this? Do you know of any organization in Nepal that has used bio-gas system using human waste? Will it generate enough power (if we use human waste) to run the whole village?
- Positioning: communal areas (staff house, WEC) to be located towards the entrance of the NCV, followed by the dining hall (which will include a kitchen, a storage room, a small space for kids to wash hands, and a small wash room towards the outside) behind it and the sleeping area towards the cliff to give privacy and quietness. All areas will be close to each other.
- Toilet rooms to be located facing outwards (to avoid odours, etc.).
- The system is easily adaptable and flexible and each unit can be placed wherever is convenient. Playgrounds can be placed in the middle. All is covered in porch systems to prevent water floods from the monsoons. This system will encourage interaction with other rooms and enjoyment of oudoors.
- 1 room for didis (same system as now). However, if we're planning on 120 kids, we will most likely need to double up the number of didis to 12 (roughly) therefore we suggest to have 2 rooms for didis. Action: Visma please confirm.
- Attached is a rough idea for you to look at, this is not final as we said. If you can show it to the staff, Sushil and didis and give us feedback that'd be great for us to move towards the next step. This just represents a small unit for 24 kids but in the real life this would be replicated as many times as necessary to accommodate 120 kids. We're just sending a quick sketch of 24 kids because this drawing takes time to develop but hope that it will give you an idea of the concept. This includes 4 rooms (6 kids each), 1 toilet and washroom. There is playground space in the middle and with porch systems. Don't pay too much attention to the details (i.e. toilets) this is just for effect.
- Sleeping area, communal areas, dining hall, WEC and staff house, will be located on the main land (the one next to the school).
2.- Engineering questions 4 and 6. Action: Visma to respond.
3.- Role of Baburam/local engineer. Action: MC to write job descriptions to limit the scope of each party. This will be done w/c 2nd January. It is agreed that purchase of materials and hiring staff for the construction phase will be arranged by NCH and avoiding a construction company because of the fees. NCH will have a local engineer that will supervise the construction of the village when there is no architect from the Spanish group onsite. Choice of materials is open (wood, bricks and stone) but architects will need to take the lead from Visma in terms of availability.
4.- Phase 1 will include: children's home, dining hall, WEC, fence, staff house.
5.- Staff house will be for the guard and will include:
- 2 bedrooms (1 bed each). This will be the accommodation for guard and male teacher.
- Small dining area.
- Toilet room (toilet and wash area) which can also be used for visitors as it's located at the entrace of NCV.
- Small kitchen.
- Small office/reception area.
Small office in the staff house will be enough for now, no more office space required.
6.- Budget: once the concept has been finalized and agreed, architect group to send the proposal to Visma so he can get it quoted in local currency and materials to confirm concept is viable and on budget.
7.- Forest area will be used for the botanical garden, fun park for children.
8.- Animals will be at the other side of the forest (near the local clinic).
9.- Architect group to decide whether there is a benefit in getting in touch with the UK architect that has visited the village to provide architect technical insight.
10.- Once the construction has started, Visma to get in touch with local government to get funding to improve the roads that lead to Ghatchok.
11.- Timescales: what is the deadline for presentation of the first draft concept? We need a better understanding of the timescales in terms of what are the requirements from grant givers (i.e. WEC to start in April). Our suggestion is this:
- Mid February (date TBC) architects present the village concept in Spain. Maybe we can make it official and invite Namaste Foundation, other charities, etc.?
- We get feedback from you and other sponsors and you get the concept quoted in Nepal to confirm we're on budget. End of February.
- 1 month of technical work from approval of concept to completion for pushing the button for construction. End of March.
- Village starts construction in early April. Please confirm this is viable and makes sense.
12.- Land layout: Attached is a pdf (site plan) that shows the limits of the land as we understand them. We need you to confirm that:
- Please check that the land limits are correctly located. There is a piece of land that looks a bit peculiar, look at the edge of the school that connects with the land. Is that correct? Is there a purpose for that? On the photos it looks like a little alley that goes to the right?
- Confirm that the rice fields are located and orientated correctly in the pdf, this detail is not shown on the land survey and the photos we've got don't show the orientation very well either.
13.- Medical room. Current home has a small medical room and we haven't included this into the new model. Do we need one? If yes, where does it need to be? In the dining hall/kitchen area?
14.- Water supply. Is it supplied from the river with water pumps or is there already water supply?
15.- Stone supply. Is it easy to get, I'm thinking does it come from the river?
I think this is it for now. If you could get back to us on feedback on the modular system ASAP we'd be really appreciate it. Please know that this is by no means anything final, it is just a rough idea that shows the concept so that we can convey what we're thinking of. Because it's a modular system that can be adapted and tweaked as we want there is total flexibility.
Good talking to you and speak soon.
Best wishes, many Namaste and have a good start of 2012!
