Happy Habitat New Year!

Thanks to some unbelievably generous and old fraternity brothers, Habitat-Nepal is going to build another seven new houses in 2009!  Fred Atkins and Dave Watkinson organized a bunch of my classmates from Univ. of North Carolina (1968) to donate!  Thanks guys!

Home for the Holidays

On Dec 18 headed back to Colorado for Christmas vacation. Jeanne picked me up at the Denver airport after 48 hours travel (whew!). Weather in Boulder is little colder than Kathmandu: it was -5 degrees F (-20 degrees C) Friday night:

Have a Jolly Nepali Christimas!

Check out the Asia/Pacific Habitat Christmas Card: http://www.hfhap.org/christmas2008/flash.html

Turn Right At India!

Made it to Biratnagar in SE Nepal -- hung out with the Red Cross/Red Crescent guys doing relief work for Kosi flood victims. Hired a car to go to Jhapa Habitat office (we just headed east until we bumped into India). Saw a couple of Habitat houses built in the last year:









Habitat is working with local partners to develop bambo contruction materials factory:






The Kosi River flood (happened in August during monsoon, the river breached a huge portion of levee and destroyed houses and farm land). Habitat is working with local government to do pilot project to relocate 50 families into permanent Habitat homes.

Check outh Habitat Nepal's web site: http://hfhi-nepal.blogspot.com/

I joined Habitat for Humanity as full-time volunteer in November 2008, and am assigned as Resource Development Manager. I work in the Kathmandu Habitat office and duties include grant writing. I have been able, with lots of help from local Habitat folks, to put together a number of proposals, brochures, and concept papers for HFHI-Nepal programs and projects. Have also initiated “HFHI-Nepal Resource Development Plan – 2009” which provides roadmap for RD efforts for the next year. Also working on some office support systems, e.g., funder contact management database, RD collaboration web site. At the end of November I attended the Asian Forum conference on Corporate Social Responsibility and got to meet several HFH folks from all over Asia. Tomorrow (December 4) I will travel to Morang district in eastern Nepal to get a first hand view HFHI-Nepal’s projects in the Kosi River flood disaster zone.