November 14, 2018
Daan van Vliet, president of the Unica Foundation, has visited Nepal in October 2018 together with his wife Georgine van den Boogert, and four other team members: Frans Willem Romer (President, Rotary club of Zwolle IJsseland), Ana Isabel Augusto Coelho (member of the same club), Fokelien Meesters (ambassador, Unica Foundation) & Bram Adema (Founder, CFP Green Buildings, the Netherlands). Daan and his team carried out various activities during their visit, which are listed below.
Inauguration and handing over of Thulodhunga WaSH project
Unica Foundation had started the Thulodhunga Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project with the NRCS Kaski in April 2017. This project had aimed to serve clean drinking water for 215 people (that include 97 women and 118 men) from a total of 38 household in the village Thulodhunga of Madi Rural Municipality, Kaski. Besides providing clean drinking water, there was an awareness campaign on health, hygiene and sanitation organized for the community. In addition there was a training for villagers for kitchen gardening, where they could utilize the wastewater and grow green vegetables. The kitchen gardening would primarily serve the daily needs of the households by providing fresh vegetables. When these activities grow in a larger scale, the villagers could earn income by selling it in the nearby market.
The project duration was one year and it was completed in stipulated time and budget. The total cost of the project was estimated € 48.500,- where Unica Foundation borne about 53% and the rest was contributed by the local government as well as the villagers of Thulodhunga.
The project was jointly inaugurated by Daan van Vliet and Dol Raj Pandey (President of NRCS Kaski) at 25th of October 2018. In the same ceremony, NRCS Kaski officially handed over the project to the community.
Handing over of an ambulance
Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) Kaski is known for running reliable ambulance service in the Pokhara region. As its current vehicle was getting old, NRCS was looking for a new vehicle with four-wheeler drive to serve the patients who live in the uphill terrain of the Kaski district. Rotary Club of Pokhara Lakeside, Rotary club of Zwolle IJsseland and Unica Foundation worked together to realize this project, so an ambulance from TATA Company was purchased from India. That cost around € 9.000,- which includes interior decoration parts as well.
The ambulance was handed over to the NRCS Kaski at 26th of October 2018. In the same occasion, two rotary clubs (Pokhara Lakeside & Zwolle IJsseland) signed the paper of sister club agreement.
Monitoring visit Kalika WaSH
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) project in Kalika village is coming to an end in January 2019. Daan and his team went to visit the project along with local agents of Grundfos, a pump manufacturer based in Denmark. During the visit, the progress of the project, including performance of pump system, was observed and found satisfactory.
Kalika WaSH project is one of Unica Foundation’s largest projects in collaboration with NRCS Kaski. The main aim of the project is to improve the quality of life of vulnerable communities by providing safe drinking water, strengthening sanitation and promoting economic empowerment through mobilization of natural resources and the capacity development of the local people.
Kalika is situated in an upland region of the Pokhara valley where availability of good quality drinking water has been a major concern for decades. There is no water source above the settlement, so the only option is to bring water uphill by pump. To do this, water has to be lifted 520 meters uphill (in two stages of 260 meters each) using pumps operated by solar power. Around 1.700 people from 324 households will benefit from the project.
Follow-up visit: WaSH and ICS in Tangting, Biogas in Serachaur
Tangting is a beautiful Gurung village located just outside of Pokhara. Set in the lap of the Annapurnas, it has yet to be reached by the mainstream tourist influence that has changed much of the usual trekking routes. It retains a pristine atmosphere and cultural integrity that truly touches the soul.
As a first project of the Unica Foundation, drinking water supply and Improved Cooking Stove (ICS) project in Tangting village was completed in 2010. The project served 206 households here. The chimney was replaced recently as the old one gets rusted. The water project is going still steadily. People seemed to be happy for the both projects as it has direct impact in their livelihood.
Daan and his team went to visit Tangting and witnessed the warm welcome of the villagers. Fokelien Meesters, one of the Dutch ambassadors for the Unica Foundation, managed to bring the stationery and sport materials which was handed over to the students of Himalaya Milan Secondary School in Tangting.
Likewise, the team went to visit Seracharu village in Kaski where the Unica Foundation has supported the construction of a biogas plant to fulfil the demand of cooking fuel at the household level. The biogas is still running, however some of the household has kept LP (Liquefied petroleum) gas bottles for a better performance.
Meeting with partners
Daan also managed to have couple of meetings with different partners, such as NRCS Kaski and Shanti Griha Nepal. These meetings helped to widen the possibility of future cooperation as well as it gave certain clarity on the ongoing projects. Finally, the whole team also went to visit the country office of the Unica Foundation in Bhaktapur.
