Habitat for Humanity Nepal

Global Village is Habitat’s flagship volunteer building program. The program offers volunteers a chance to build lasting friendships with fellow team members and with Habitat home partner families.

In January 2013, a team of 22 HKUST students and staff went to Pokhara, Nepal to build a house for a local couple. They were welcomed by the local staff of Habitat for Humanity Nepal as well as the home owner on the very first day they arrived at the building site.

Although the team of volunteers was comprised of individual from varying backgrounds, they all had a common mission: to contribute to building affordable housing for the beneficiary family. The tasks they completed includes transferring stones into the house to lay the foundation, mixing cement, cleaning up bamboo for weaving, weaving bamboo to complete the house structure, etc. In between the breaks and lunch, volunteers interacted with the locals, playing games and enjoying the time together.

Despite unstable weather conditions during the build, the team was still able to complete the basic structure of the bamboo house for the family. A house dedication ceremony was held on 18 January as a symbolic gesture to handover the house to the beneficiary family. The team joined in the ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebrated the completion of the new home.

Apart from the build, the team had 2 days of cultural exploration activities in the surrounding areas of Pokhara and in Kathmandu. They visited famous tourist attractions, including Sarangkot, Pashupatinath Temple, Boudhanath Stupa, etc. The volunteers deepened their understanding about Nepali culture after the trip.