On April 25, 2015 Nepal suffered a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
PHOTO:
Jonathan H. Lee/Conscious Impact
Story highlights
The devastating 2015 earthquake in Nepal killed thousands and leveled tens of thousands of homes
Rebuilding efforts include one small agency's focus on one small village
(CNN) —
Two years after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people and causing extensive damages to property, residents are still reeling from the tragedy — especially in remote villages, where aid has been slow to arrive.
Many villages have turned to international nongovernmental organizations for help. Though it’s not always possible for these NGOs to meet all the communities’ needs, they do bring hope and some relief to beleaguered residents.
One such organization is Conscious Impact, a small nonprofit working to rebuild Takure, a low-income, farming village in the Sindhupalchowk District, about 30 miles northeast of Kathmandu.
The April 25, 2015, earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks decimated all but one of Takure’s 245 structures, according to residents. Homes, buildings and schools laid waste in piles of rubble as families worked to assess the damage.
While there’s no official death toll for Takure, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) lists Sindhupalchowk as one of the “worst-affected districts” in all of Nepal. Official figures say 3,570 people died and more than 90,000 homes were destroyed in Sindhupalchowk alone.
Sunita Tamang, a widowed mother living in Takure, described the quake’s tragic aftermath: “Everywhere I went – in and around my village – I saw people who lost their loved ones.”
Tamang’s husband died two months before the earthquake. “My husband was the only person I had to take care of me,” she says, “but now, looking at my three children, I am living my life to take care of them.”
Sunita Tamang has lived in a make-shift shelter for two years.
PHOTO:
Jonathan H. Lee/Conscious Impact
Chitra Kumari, the president of a women’s cooperative in Nawalpur, another village in Sindhupalchok District near Takure, said those fortunate enough to escape death found themselves immersed in “personal loss, economic loss, and social chaos.”
She says all the training Nepali people received in earthquake preparedness, “like to crawl under beds and tables, could not have helped people survive.”
Since the quake, many of Takure’s men have left to find work in bigger cities like Kathmandu. For those who stayed, corrugated makeshift shelters made from salvaged materials have become their new homes.
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Nepalese police officers clear debris from Durbar Square in Kathmandu on Sunday, May 3. A magnitude-7.8 earthquake centered less than 50 miles from Kathmandu rocked Nepal with devastating force Saturday, April 25. The earthquake and its aftershocks have turned one of the world's most scenic regions into a panorama of devastation, killing and injuring thousands.
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PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An injured Nepalese woman is carried by villagers toward an Indian army helicopter to be airlifted from Philim village in Gorkha district in Nepal on May 3.
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SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Members of the Tsayana family warm themselves next to a fire outside their damaged house on May 3 in Bhaktapur, Nepal.
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David Ramos/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A woman receives comfort during the funeral of her mother, a victim of Nepal's deadly earthquake, on Friday, May 1, in Kathmandu.
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Bernat Amangue/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Hindu priests perform rituals during the cremations of victims at the Pashupatinath Temple on the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu on May 1.
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MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People await aid from an Indian army helicopter in front of damaged homes in Kulgaun, Nepal, on May 1.
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SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An injured woman gets carried on a stretcher at Kathmandu's airport after being evacuated from Melamchi, Nepal, on May 1.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department guides his sniffing dog through a collapsed building in Kathmandu on Thursday, April 30.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A teenage boy gets rushed to a hospital April 30 after being rescued from the debris of a building in Kathmandu days after the earthquake.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A man is freed from the ruins of a hotel by French rescuers in the Gangabu area of Kathmandu on Tuesday, April 28. Reuters identified the man as Rishi Khanal.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Nepalese military police search through rubble outside Kathmandu on April 28.
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MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People rest April 28 in a temporary housing camp in Kathmandu. Large encampments of tents have sprung up in open areas, including a wide space belonging to the military in the center of the capital.
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PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A family collects belongings from their home in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on Monday, April 27.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Damaged buildings lean to the side in Kathmandu on April 27.
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Wally Santana/AP
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Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Members of the Nepalese army retrieve bodies from a collapsed building in Bhaktapur near Kathmandu on April 27.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Nepalese soldiers carry a wounded woman to a helicopter as they evacuate people from Trishuli Bazar, Nepal, on April 27.
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Altaf Qadri/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People charge their cell phones in an open area in Kathmandu on April 27.
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Bernat Armangue/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Emergency personnel evacuate an injured man to a waiting helicopter in Trishuli Bazar on April 27.
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Altaf Qadri/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An aerial view of the devastation in Kathmandu on April 27. The destruction in Nepal's capital is stark: revered temples reduced to rubble, people buried in the wreckage of their homes, hospitals short on medical supplies overflowing with patients.
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Kishor Rana/CNN
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Residents rescue items from the debris of houses damaged in the quake in Kathmandu on April 27.
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Bernat Armangue/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An aervial view shows ruined buildings in Trishuli Bazar on April 27.
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Altaf Qadri/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A woman prays at a ruined temple in Kathmandu on April 27.
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Bernat Armangue/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People rest in temporary shelters in Kathmandu on April 27.
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Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Residents cycle over damaged roads on the outskirts of Kathmandu on Sunday, April 26.
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PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Four-month-old Sonit Awal is held up by Nepalese army soldiers after being rescued from the rubble of his house in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on April 26.
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Amul Thapa/KathmanduToday.com/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
The newspaper that provided photographs of the baby's rescue says the Nepalese army initially left the site, thinking the baby had not survived. Hours later when the infant's cries were heard, soldiers came back and rescued him.
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Amul Thapa/KathmanduToday.com/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
The newspaper adds the Nepalese Army had initially failed to rescue the baby and left the site thinking the baby had not survived. Hours later when the baby's cries were heard the army came back and rescued him.
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kathmandutoday.com
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A woman cries after identifying the body of a relative in Bhaktapur on April 26.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Men clear debris in Bhaktapur on April 26.
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Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A truck evacuates residents from Kathmandu on April 26.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A Buddha statue is surrounded by debris on April 26 from a collapsed temple in the UNESCO world heritage site of Bhaktapur.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An elderly woman is helped to her home after being treated for her injuries in Bhaktapur on April 26.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Family members break down on April 26 during the cremation of a loved one killed in Bhaktapur.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Smoke from funeral pyres fills the air at the Pashupatinath temple on the banks of Bagmati River in Kathmandu on April 26.
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Bernat Armangue/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Members of India's National Disaster Response Force look for survivors in Kathmandu on April 26.
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Manish Swarup/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Rescue workers remove debris on April 26 as they search for victims in Bhaktapur.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People look at the debris of one of the oldest temples in Kathmandu on April 26.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People sleep on a street in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Saturday, April 25. A seemingly endless series of aftershocks continued to roil the area, further traumatizing survivors.
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NARENDRA SHRESTHA/EPA/Landov
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Civilian rescuers carry a person on a stretcher in Kathmandu on April 25.
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NARENDRA SHRESTHA/EPA
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People try to free a man from the rubble in Kathmandu on April 25. Cheers rose from the piles when people were found alive -- but mostly bodies turned up.
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NARENDRA SHRESTHA/EPA
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Pedestrians walk past collapsed buildings in Kathmandu on April 25.
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Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Azim Afif, of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia climbing team, provided this photo of their Mount Everest base camp after it was ravaged by an avalanche triggered by the earthquake on April 25. All of Afif's five-member team survived.
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Azim Afif/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Rescuers clear rubble in Kathmandu's Basantapur Durbar Square on April 25.
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PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A temple on Hanumandhoka Durbar Square lies in ruins after an earthquake in Kathmandu on April 25.
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Sunil Sharma/Xinhua/Landov
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Dharahara, a tower dating back to 1832 that rose more than 60 meters (200 feet) and provided breathtaking views of Kathmandu and the surrounding Himalayas, collapsed in the earthquake on April 25.
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Sunil Sharma/Xinhua/Landov
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
The hand of a statue is seen under debris in Basantapur Durbar Square in Kathmandu.
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Pratap Thapa/Xinjua/Sipa
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A Nepalese man and woman hold each other in Kathmandu's Basantapur Durbar Square on April 25.
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PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A victim of Nepal's earthquake lies in the debris of Dharahara after it collapsed on April 25 in Kathmandu, Nepal.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Rescuers look for victims under a collapsed building in Kathmandu on April 25.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Volunteers carry a body recovered from the debris of a collapsed building in Kathmandu.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A victim's body is seen in the debris of the collapsed Dharahara on April 25.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Emergency rescue workers carry a victim from Dharahara after the tower in Kathmandu collapsed on April 25.
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Omar Havana/Getty images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People free a man from the rubble of a destroyed building in Kathmandu.
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NARENDRA SHRESTHA/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
A man walks past a collapsed temple at Basantapur Durbar Square.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Rescue workers clear debris in Kathmandu while searching for survivors.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People huddle together outside a hospital in Kathmandu. Eyewitnesses said residents were scared and waiting for aftershocks to end.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People search for survivors stuck under the rubble of a destroyed building in Kathmandu.
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NARENDRA SHRESTHA/EPA/LANDOV
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Injured people receive treatment in Kathmandu. A CNN reporter said medics were focused on treating the most severely injured.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
Emergency rescue workers search for survivors in the debris of Dharahara on April 25.
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Omar Havana/Getty Images
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An injured child lies on the ground outside a hospital in Kathmandu on April 25.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
People help with rescue efforts at the site of a collapsed building in Kathmandu.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
An injured child receives treatment outside Medicare Hospital in Kathmandu on April 25. Residents, after a relentless series of aftershocks, have been remaining outdoors.
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
Photos: Powerful earthquake hits Nepal
The rubble of collapsed walls fills a street in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu, on April 25.
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Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty
’A huge need for services’
The same day Tamang and Kumari watched their world fall apart, two Americans from the state of Delaware were trekking through the Himalayas when the force of the quake shook their ground. Allen Gula and Orion Haas were a two days’ journey east of their destination, Everest Base Camp. “We started seeing damage to rural tea shops and getting bits and pieces of info about what had happened,” said Gula.
Gula had previously spent five years working in rural communities such as Ghana, Panama, Honduras and Nicaragua as a staff member with the aid agency Global Brigades, a development organization.
The travel companions had a flight scheduled back to the United States a week and a half after the quake, but changed their plans after witnessing the devastation. “We saw a huge need for services in rebuilding,” said Gula, “this made us feel that something should be done, and we wanted to be the ones to do it.”
The duo spent the next few weeks delivering aid to rural areas, and eventually launched a small aid group they called Conscious Impact.
Conscious Impact co-founders Allen Gula (left) and Orion Haas (right).
PHOTO:
Jonathan H. Lee/Conscious Impact
In August, 2015, Gula and Haas met a group of Takure residents. “We became friends and started talking,” Gula said. “At that time Conscious Impact was little more than a website and some friends with big ambitions.” A couple weeks later the group set up camp in their new home of Takure.
Conscious Impact is one of the hundreds of nonprofits involved in an international effort to rebuild the quake zone. UNOCHA estimated, “thousands of volunteers” and “over 450 humanitarian agencies” responded to deliver aid to Nepal following the earthquake.
The organization uses what they call an affordable and “sustainable, alternative path to rebuilding.” They work with community members to produce Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs) for building. Earth blocks are composed of local soil, sand and a small percentage of cement. They are made using a brick press at the Takure Training and Production Center, which also provides full-time employment to over a dozen local residents. In 2016 the group produced more than 50,000 CSEBs.
Conscious Impact produced more than 50,000 Compresssed Stabilized Earth Blocks (CSEBs) in 2016.
PHOTO:
Jonathan H. Lee/Conscious Impact
Rather than solely delivering aid, Conscious Impact has made its mission to teach local Nepalese how to rebuild their communities. The organization set up its headquarters in Takure to “empower and collaborate.”
The group envisions its training center as a “self-sufficient, Nepali run business which can function as a national hub for local, culturally-relevant, sustainable, earthquake-resistant, and affordable technologies in building,” according to its website. The belief is that it is critically important for Nepalis to “use the tools themselves to rebuild their own lives and have autonomy in uplifting themselves from economic struggle.”
Since September 2015, Conscious Impact has rebuilt a primary school and is working towards completing an orphanage, senior center and a community center. The group has also hosted more than 300 volunteers from 22 different countries.
’Overwhelming love’
Ellen Stewart, a 25-year-old from Norwich, UK, found Conscious Impact while she was searching for an organization to volunteer with during her last two weeks in Nepal. Those two weeks turned into a year and a half, accompanied by three changed flights.
“The passion and the energy for what we do still continues to make me feel as excited as I did back in August 2015,” said Stewart.
Ellen Stewart, a Conscious Impact volunteer, teaches 7th graders about environmental awareness at the Nawalpur Secondary School.
PHOTO:
Jonathan H. Lee/Conscious Impact
The Red Cross, Plan International and a few other multinational NGO’s have helped in and around Nepal, but Conscious Impact is the only organization that is headquartered in Takure.
Without Conscious Impact’s work in Takure, the village would be in an even worse situation, as government aid has been slow to come.
Since the quake, Nepal’s government has been promised $4.1 billion in aid from various sources, according to Nepal’s Reconstruction Authority. However, the NRA is only in its first round of distributing aid to the 14 hardest hit districts – including Sindhupalchowk. Aid distribution to the remaining 17 districts is just beginning, according to Yam LalBhoosal, joint-secretary for Nepal’s Reconstruction Authority.
Out of 542,000 families in the 14 hard-hit districts, less than 10% have begun the rebuilding process, according to Bhoosal.
The government and NGOs have blamed Nepal’s mountainous terrain, the remoteness of the villages and volatile rainy season for the sluggish response. However, there has also been some government push back.
Bhoosal acknowledges the first year of aid distribution was slow. “It took eight months to get NRA up and running after the earthquake,” he says, “There are foreign donors, there are several agencies within the government, and there are matters of transparencies, we have to follow all the rules set by donor agencies – all of which makes the aid distribution process slower.”
When asked if the NRA was satisfied with their progress, Bhoosal responded:“Our work in the second year has been quite good.”
Kumari, whose women’s cooperative is based in a building created by Conscious Impact, said the group’s contribution to Sindhupalchowk has been invaluable.
“I don’t have the words to express my happiness,” she said. “We never thought we’d receive any relief after the quake, but now we have this structure for the women’s cooperative.”
Reflecting on why Conscious Impact chose to work in Takure, Gula said: “Whether we chose Takure or Takure’s overwhelming love and need for rebuilding called to us, is debatable.”
Regardless, they’re committed to rebuilding Nepal one Compressed Stabilized Earth Block at a time.
