since 2009
Orphanage-farm
In response to the large number of orphans and abandoned children generated by the civil war in the early 2000s, Kam For Sud decided to set up a permanent facility for children without families in the Kathmandu Valley, with the aim of providing them with a healthy and stable emotional environment, access to schooling, and accompaniment until they become independent or that they come of age.
Wishing to provide a family-like environment for the children, it was planned to build three foster homes each governed by a Nepalese parental couple as the parental figure of choice and housing from fifteen to twenty children each.
The three houses are surrounded by one hectare of land cultivated using organic techniques so the facility is able to sustain itself. Four agricultural employees work full-time in the fields and stables; the orphanage staff is supplemented by two housekeeping employees and two night watchmen.
Features of the green building: environmentally friendly bricks and materials, rainwater harvesting in an underground tank for irrigation of fields during the dry season, sewage purification by lagooning with Phragmites australis (swamp reed) and subsequent reuse of the water for agriculture, biogas production with solid organic waste, photovoltaic power generation, and domestic hot water production by direct solar energy.
The children live in Tathali in a large family, attend the village school and generally leave when they reach the age of eighteen; exceptions are made (to finish basic schooling, in case of particular frailties, and so on). If the children decide to continue their studies, Kam For Sud provides a scholarship and facilitates reintegration into the clan of origin, if it is known and if it gives sufficient guarantees of protection.
Inspired by the traditional habitat, the project decided to build the three houses on the top of the hill so as to allow optimal use of the terraced land for crops.
The architectural concept was developed in collaboration with an architectural office in Kathmandu, taking inspiration from the style of traditional rural buildings albeit considering specific needs for size and comfort. All of the ecological techniques employed represent an imitable model in the Kathmandu Valley, as everything is locally sourced.
The structural safety of the buildings is ensured by the earthquake-proof parameters met during construction (an aspect later greatly appreciated in 2015, when the earthquake destroyed 75 percent of the houses in Tathali village, without affecting the orphanage).