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Community Learning Centre in Pasman Tol
Pasman Tol, Nepal
image: Paul Laurance Burnett | © all rights reserved
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Location:
Pasman Tol, Nepal
Category:
education
Phase:
design development
Updated:
9 January 2023
We are a determined partnership of fundraisers, designers and local community implementers who are building a Community Learning Centre to support 250 children between ages 5 and 11 in rural South Nepal. We are designing a dignified building that meets the needs of the children and teachers. Our design will overcome challenges from the hot climate and flooding, and provide a template that is easy to replicate in future community buildings. 
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Introduction
Community Beyond Construction is working in partnership with Nepali Charity Mithila Wildlife Trust and UK Charity Pipal Tree. Together, we will design and build a new community learning centre (CLC) close to the Kamala River in Dhanusha District, Nepal. The CLC will support the education of 250 children from the Pasman caste; an “untouchable”, primarily Muslim community who were displaced after the Kamala River flooded. This will be the second CLC built by Mithila Wildlife Trust. CBC’s expertise has been enlisted to improve the design and build on numerous lessons learned from the first CLC project. 

The initiative behind building CLCs is to support the mainstream education of local children, as government schools are very poorly funded; with few professional teachers and only open for a few hours each day. The CLCs welcome children outside of these hours in the morning and afternoon. 

The first CLC setup in a nearby village has been a runaway success. Attendance has soared from the first 28 children in January 2013 to 286 by January 2022. In reality, the CLC offers more than "support" and local children attend the CLC as a vital entry point into primary education.

The success of the first CLC highlighted a number of challenges with the design. Most importantly, the hot climate means that the building quickly overheats when there are too many children; due to very poor ventilation and passive cooling. We aim to overcome this challenge and more through architectural design.
Pasman children lending a helping hand during the project assessment

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Impact
Primarily through improved education, dignified design, safe construction and training. 

Improved education - Phase 1 will provide 3 classrooms, 2 covered external learning spaces and toilets to comfortably accommodate 250 students, ages 5 to 11. The CLC syllabus supports the poorly funded government education system with additional lessons before and after main schooling. The CLC will help to ensure that many more 11 year old girls and boys from the rural community are able to achieve their qualification and progress onto middle school. 

Dignified design - The local community was displaced and resettled when the nearby Kamala River flooded. Because of the community’s status, the resettlement was not very effective or well managed and there is a general sentiment in the community that they are living on borrowed land. We will use appropriate architectural design to promote the local community’s heritage, and design buildings using materials and artwork that represent the proud regional history and culture. 

Safe construction and training - The Pasman community is largely left to fend for themselves with little to no government investment in infrastructure. We will adopt local construction techniques and easily accessible materials in our design, and look for ways to improve familiar methods to provide stronger, safer buildings. We will then provide workshops and architectural models to communicate these methods to local community members that work alongside us in the construction, to pass on the methods and encourage their use in the construction of future community buildings.
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Core team
Community Beyond Construction’s core team are co-founders Betty and Andy and architectural assistant Lindsey. We partner on this exciting project with Mr. Dev Narayan Mandal, Mithila Wildlife Trust founder and Mr. Philip Holmes, Pipal Tree founder.

Betty and Andy are close friends and colleagues who met in 2018 on an international development project. They have since worked together on nonprofit school design and community construction projects, co-founding CBC with a goal to improve access to schooling and equity in education around the world. They observed the need for the community to be involved in the decision making process, and empowered to operate and maintain the school long-term.

Betty Curto Reyes is an Architect with several years of professional, international experience in architecture design and post-disaster reconstruction. Andy Sharp is a Civil & Structural Engineer who has led infrastructure development and post-disaster recovery projects. Find our portfolio here.

Dev is a highly experienced conservationist from Dhanushadham and he works throughout the Madhesh Province in South Nepal. Dev believes that conservation projects are more successful if the local community is involved in the project and holds responsibility for its outcome. This approach has made Dev extremely well connected and respected by many local communities throughout the Dhanusha District. Dev and his team at Mithila Wildlife trust will be the key implementation partner and will primarily coordinate the construction of the CLC.

Read about the resilient Pasman Tol community here.
Dev Narayan Mandal and Andy Sharp during project assessment

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Image gallery
Existing dilapidated classroom building in Pasman Tol 1

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Existing dilapidated classroom building in Pasman Tol 2

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Existing dilapidated classroom building in Pasman Tol 3

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Existing dilapidated classroom building in Pasman Tol 4

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Existing dilapidated classroom building in Pasman Tol 5

image: Paul Laurance Burnett | © all rights reserved
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Existing dilapidated classroom building in Pasman Tol 6

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Community Learning Centre surroundings 1

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Community Learning Centre surroundings 2

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Existing well at Community Learning Centre

image: Andy Sharp | © all rights reserved
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Pasman Tol village 1

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Pasman Tol village 2

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Pasman Tol village 3

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Pasman Tol village 4

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Pasman Tol village 5

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Pasman Tol village 6

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Future students of the Community Learning Centre 1

image: Paul Laurance Burnett | © all rights reserved
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Future students of the Community Learning Centre 2

image: Paul Laurance Burnett | © all rights reserved
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Future students of the Community Learning Centre

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Students of the Community Learning Centre

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Student of the Community Learning Centre

image: Ganesh Sah | © all rights reserved
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Technical drawings
Community Learning Centre Spaces

image: Lindsey DuPell | © all rights reserved
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Perspective Section 1

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Perspective Section 3

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Community Learning Centre Location

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Prevailing Wind Direction

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Sun Path

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Community Learning Centre Layout

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Community Learning Centre Roof Plan

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Community Learning Centre Materials

image: Lindsey DuPell | © all rights reserved
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Ventilation Diagram

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Future Phase 2 Intent

image: Betsaida Curto Reyes | © all rights reserved
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Help bring our project to life!

There are no updates yet.

Help bring our project to life!
Where are we now
We have raised £36,102 from small grants and fundraising towards construction of the CLC. CBC is designing the new CLC in two phases. The money raised is enough to build Phase 1, which includes a new classroom, refurbishing two existing classrooms, new toilets and WASH facilities, two covered external learning spaces and a community plaza.

Our core team has the expertise to design, plan and build the new CLC. However, a key aspiration of our project is to provide skills training to the local community, especially women, on the use of materials and techniques involved in safe construction. We are looking for the right construction skills trainer to join our team and deliver the training. 
An indication of our team’s capacity:
80% funding already raised
80% expertise already found
90% materials / equipment already found
60% builders already found
Finance: € 9,650
To date, Community Beyond Construction has volunteered its designer’s time to develop the concept design for the community learning centre. The additional funding will help to support our design team as they develop the architectural and engineering design, and produce detailed construction drawings.

Greater investment in A&E will help us overcome the challenges seen in the first CLC and develop a solution that suits the local context, provides a comfortable environment for students, and leaves a dignified and safe building for the community to feel proud of. The concepts developed will be used to design and build many more CLCs, improving access to quality education for countless children.
  • Architecture
3,700
  • Engineering
1,300
  • Design drafting
1,150
  • Construction skills trainer and site supervisor
3,500
Skills: PR & Marketing
Our core team combines committed community leaders with the knowledge to build, maintain and teach in the CLC, with Architects and an Engineer to design and plan for the successful construction. 

Once we have successfully built the CLC at Pasman Tol, we intend to adopt and adapt the design principles to build other dignified community learning centres in nearby villages. 

To achieve this goal we will need assistance in promoting the project mission and successful outcomes from the Pasman Tol community learning centre. In this context, a successful PR and marketing strategy is crucial to increase our reach and impact, and this is an area where our core team lacks experience.
Hands
We are looking for an experienced, multi-skilled construction supervisor with a trade background to help us implement vocational construction skills training with the local community. 

The ideal construction skills trainer will be a hands-on, engaged and passionate person, who is excited about helping our team to develop skills training programs and work alongside the local community workers to develop safe, strong and resilient construction methods. 

In return, the trainer will learn about the local techniques and construction methods of the Dhanusha district, and themselves learn how to construct with compressed earth brick buildings, woven reed mats and other local materials.
Help bring our project to life!
Location
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