Integrated Model Village - Chaudhary Foundation
A little over a year after the 2015 earthquake had decimated- villages and towns across Nepal, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) issued a directive to halt the construction of transitional shelters and schools — causing organizations throughout Nepal, including Chaudhary Foundation, to shift from humanitarian relief to more permanent and self-sustaining strategies.
This project supports SDGs:
After several meetings with the NRA, Binod and Nirvana Chaudhary had an idea to design a prototype village that would integrate as many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One of the objectives of the model village project was to create a successful template that could be replicated across Nepal and throughout the world.
During the implementation phase, the local community were engaged in skill development training for house construction, as a part of a sustainable livelihood program. These training sets included mansion and brick making training and plumbing that was women inclusive. As a result, 170,000 plus bricks were made by the community themselves to shape the houses and 30 plus mansions were trained.
In the presence of Mr. Binod Chaudhary, Chairman and President of Chaudhary Group, and Dr. Christopher Elias, Global Development Head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Chaudhary Foundation officially opened and handed over an integrated model village to Giranchaur village in Sindhupalchowk. 62 houses were built providing shelter to 300 individuals. Likewise, to strengthen skill development among school children and reduce digital literacy gap, a digital classroom has been installed in the local community school, Shree Mahakali Secondary School. The school was provided with digital equipment including laptops, desktops, TV, projector to promote digital learning among the students who had limited access to ICT infrastructures. Overall, the village is designed to fulfill social needs of the community that constitute: quality of life, economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, social inclusion and healthy lifestyle, through livelihood and technical training support.