The present view of NCDC Resource Centre in Ilam, Nepal (Sapkota/NCDC)

Local people in Bhojpur partcipates in the program. (Sapkota/NCDC)

Remembering the contribution made by various individuals, national and international organizations and to further reinforce the relationship through enhanced communication, a ‘Partnership building Conference’ was held in Kathmandu recently. The other objective of this program was to inform partners about NCDC’s progress and works as well as discuss upon new strategies and opportunities.

Partnership Building Conference at Hotel Himalaya, Kathmandu (Bhattrai/NCDC)

With around 40 participants representing different ministries, line agencies, NGOs, Norwegian Embassy, and INGOs, this conference gave an opportunity to sit across the table and discuss ideas and development strategies for NCDC. Some very constructive and practical recommendations and suggestions had come from the partners as new strategies for further growth.

Mr. Yogendra Man Shrestha, Agriculture expert,NCDC making presentations regarding work and progress of NCDC

Although it was only an hour of discussion, but was successful in terms of productive discussions and meaningful participation. It was an opportunity and a proud moment for NCDC to be amidst its partners and to talk about its success and experiences.

Keep reading for more updates.

Participants gather in the NCDC Resource Centre for the workshop.(Chapagain/NCDC)

Mr. Ambassador of America, CEO (Ilam municipality) and Chairman of Constituent Assembly, in the opening session of the workshop (Chapagain/NCDC)

The Green City agenda was basically divided into ten different thematic areas. These areas included Health, Education, Energy, Environment, Socio-Cultural aspect, Transportation and communication, Urban Design, Governance, Economy and Agriculture. This workshop was a participatory one that involved lots of brainstorming, discussion, debate and group works. The participants of all sectors were divided into different groups and were given related themes to discuss to work upon. All the discussions were centered on the aforementioned thematic areas in context of Ilam municipality. The first day of workshop involved group work, facilitated by Dr. Barry Bialek( NCDF, Canada), where the participants were divided into 10 thematic groups and were asked to develop a 100 years plan for Ilam. The group exercise was followed by presentations of the findings.

Presentation being made after the group exercise.(Chapagain/NCDC)

Similarly the day two was also marked by the group exercise where the same thematic groups developed a comprehensive plan, along with indicators for the period of 5 years. This was also followed by presentations.

Along with the group exercises, this workshop also was successful in generating strong commitments from various government and non government organizations with regard to providing support to this initiative.

Dr. Barry Bialek, NCDF consults with The Ambassador of America to Nepal.(Chapagain/NCDC)

As a result, this workshop generated lots of activities and plans for Ilam to achieve its green city mission. As an outcome of this workshop, a detailed plan has been prepared and submitted to the concerned bodies for implementation.

Representatives from different sectors

The participants in the program were the shareholders and beneficiaries, political party’s representatives, representatives from co-operatives, media, DDC Engineer, local leaders and the NCDC staffs . Mr.Lalit kumar Limbu, the Field Coordinator (FC) for Taplejung district for NCDC, was also present in the program. The main objectives of the program was dissemination of information regarding the financial status of the project, formation of new User’s committee and different sub committees to complete work within the timeframe.

The project beneficiaries in the program

Mr. Thapa also briefed the User’s committee and other stakeholders regarding the different process they need to undergo during the project cycle. He also provided some recommendations for accountable and transparent working environment. Mr. Limbu and Thapa also got engaged with the User’s committee in the preparation of a draft action plan.

Sapkota and Thapa also got engaged with advocacy and facilitated in the formation of more inclusive Users committee and sub-committees. The committees previously formed didn’t have sufficient representation and participation of women and other disadvantaged caste group in the committees, and this time with the intervention of the NCDC team, a more inclusive committee was formed with more female, dalit and janajati’s participation. The NCDC team also supported at the policy level by advocating more inclusive policies for the poor by categorizing the beneficiaries through well being ranking and charging less amount of money or no money for the poor households who cannot afford to pay. Plans are made also to link these households with NGOs supports.

Mr. Thapa facilitates the program (limbu/ncdc)

For these activities to be carried out, Mr. Limbu (FC) will be constantly monitoring the project and reporting Sapkota about the progress. With the new appointment of GESI officer, the mini grid projects are expected to be more socially inclusive with maximum participation of women, dalits, janajatis and other socially disadvantaged groups.

Three models of ICS at the resource centre

FTCs testing differnt models of ICS with changing parameters

According to Thapa, this study will be of great help in understanding the efficiency of ICS of different models. He also said that they will come up with a report after analyzing each of the model’s efficiency with different parameters and recommend the most efficient ICS for replication.

Where are they?

“The field” is the term used for the regular trips NCDC engineers and monitoring personnel make out to check on project sites. The “field” might refer to something as close as 15 minutes away from the office by jeep, within the municipality itself, or as far away as a week or two hiking. NCDC assists with and monitors projects in many eastern districts, and getting out to the field to work with locals in an organic, grassroots manner, is perhaps one of the most important parts of working at NCDC.

The model NCDC uses for many of its field projects is unique: it relies on local communities to have a genuine, demonstrable stake in the project. NCDC provides the technical expertise and assistance with implementation, but the project belongs, in every sense, to the community.

As part of NCDC’s work with the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) and the subset of it, the Energy Sector Assistance Programme (ESAP), micro-hydro projects in local communities make up a large portion of NCDC’s field work. Through ESAP, NCDC as a regional service centre ,is working to promote three major sources of alternate energy: micro-hydro, biomass and solar power.

Last week in the village of Ekathappa, NCDC field coordinator Kumar Shrestha and Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Officer Nikki Sapkota were able to be present for the final testing and implementation of the community’s new micro-hydro project.

Building these kinds of “demand-based” systems requires an immense mobilization on the community’s part: they are responsible for putting forward the income and the labor to make the power system happen. NCDC provides additional invaluable technical assistance.

Children enjoying after the testing in the powerhouse (Sathian/NCDC)

The systems are made up of several components: a dam across the local river or major water source is constructed, and a canal must also be constructed along the side of the river.Somewhere along the canal an additional dirt trap is installed so that the water can be filtered before reaching the power system. Then a tank is constructed near the powerhouse and a large metal or plastic pipe connects the tank to the powerhouse. Within the powerhouse, a small turbine runs; the water heats the turbine and generates electricity.

The canal (Sathian/NCDC)

Micro-hydro means producing up to 100 kilowatts of power. In the case of Ekathappa, the project provides enough electricity for five local wards. During the evenings, from 7 PM to 7 AM, the electricity can be used for individuals’ homes. But during the daytime, it provides a valuable industrial function: the power can be used to power mills, schools, dairy production, shops – all of a sudden these rural, otherwise inaccessible communities have the ability to build their own economies and become self-sustainable beyond just agricultural means.

Keep reading for more information on the many other micro-hydro projects NCDC is involved in.

The program, run as a joint collaboration between the municipality of Ilam’s District Soil Conservation Office and NCDC, aims to bring discussions of climate change on a global level to local communities. This latest program was a Training Orientation Program on Environment, Rivers and Climate Change.

The workshop lasted three days, and despite heavy monsoon rains, brought over 20 Ilam district residents to the municipality, from Danabari, Shantipur, Lakshmipur, and Kolbung Village Development Committees (VDC) among others. They attended lectures and discussion groups on various issues relating to climate change. The residents in attendance are regional and local leaders within their communities, many of them serving on user committees. They are the people responsible for implementing local strategies to deal with environmental problems, and accordingly, their understanding of global warming is a high priority for NCDC.

Members of the user committees from various VDCs watch a presentation on climate change in NCDC headquarters. (Sathian/NCDC)

Yogendra Man Shrestha and Sajan Neupane, NCDC staff, co-led the workshops with assistance from the District Forest Office.

Topics covered in the workshop included a basic orientation about defining climate change and discussions of global adaptation strategies; discussions of biomass and solar energy, and a workshop focused on water and resource management.

Because many local VDCs are solely responsible for their communities – especially during monsoon season, when washed out roads makes accessing these rural areas very difficult – the two-way communication these workshops establish is helpful and important. While NCDC was able to gather information from the community leaders about good and bad practices relating to conservation in their communities, Shrestha and Neupane were also able to instigate discussions about changing certain practices.

Many discussions focused on the question of riverbeds, and managing riverbank communities after and during floods.
NCDC’s community outreach continues in the coming month as staffers set out to collect information from ten new VDCs and establish further relationships.

Check out their work via their blog HERE

Though the Ilam municipality is filled with private schools, there are a number of public schools in the area which lack curriculums for teaching basic information about health and hygiene.

Because NCDC is involved so heavily in working on water quality issues throughout Ilam, Bhupal Khatiwada, NCDC’s Health Component Coordinator, has a strategy for ensuring long-term sustainability of NCDC’s work: he’s taking it to the schools.

Khatiwada has led campaigns in local schools for several years now, where he and other NCDC staffers supplement the schools’ curriculums with their own lessons on health. One such lesson is a favorite among local classrooms: the handwashing class.

Students learn the techniques for handwashing. (Khatiwada/NCDC)

The reasoning behind Khatiwada’s initiative is simple: as NCDC’s engineers tackle head-on problems of water quality around Ilam and the country, this information is useless without a new generation with ideas about the importance of water quality already ingrained in them.

In June, NCDC teamed up with EWB students and collaborated to continue the handwashing classes. (Meertens/NCDC)

Through collaborations with the University of Colorado at Boulder’s team of Engineers Without Borders students, the education program covers everything from young girls’ teenage health to hands-on workshops that let the students get a glimpse at how to clean water, and what the differences between dirty and clean water are.

The handwashing event in the Ilam bazaar last summer was a big hit with local adults and students alike. (Khatiwada/NCDC)

Handwashing is just one component of a larger campaign on NCDC’s part to build a society that stands up for its own health.