Week by week our new Women’s Safe House, Samridhi Ghar (House of Prosperity), has been growing from vision into reality. We’re excited to share the progress in photos below so you can see it evolving.
This spring we are asking for your additional support to complete the Safe House building and transition the program towards being self-sustaining. Our 2024 plan includes finishing construction, building furniture from wood we harvested from the land, supplementing food costs, and community education while the Safe House moves to gradually being funded by the local government. Help us establish the Women’s Safe House as a permanent and sustainable part of the community!
Since we broke ground in October, the land has been cleared, trees were harvested for wood we will use later for furnishings and fencing, the foundation was poured, structural piers have been built, rebar and interlocking bricks have been installed to provide earthquake resistance, plastic piping and a granular barrier has been installed to provide for water drainage during the monsoon season, and fruit trees are being planted as the beginning of a full garden to support sustainability. Our new Safe House building is designed to have 12 residential bedrooms including two that adjoin with an internal door to accommodate families and two others that can be used as isolation/patient rooms in cases where women or children arrive with illnesses. (We had one woman arrive with tuberculosis last year). The facility also includes a kitchen, dining area, three staff offices, a counseling room, community meeting room, children’s care area, bathrooms, and ample general storage for the facility. Some women stay only a few days as issues are resolved or cases are filed with the police, but in many cases women need months before their next steps can be determined and they can heal both physically and mentally.
As the building goes up, our Canadian construction partner, Another Brick in Nepal, has been impressively active and on top of everything. They have overseen the building design and now keep a close eye on the work through extensive photos and communication to ensure that the building is being constructed according to plan.
We thought you would enjoy seeing the progress–your support is creating not only a permanent shelter for women victims of violence, but a community organization that does outreach and education to shift societal norms for the future and ensure that women are aware of the rights, protections, and services available to them!
