Bholu 8

Bholu 8 – A Start

Bholu 8 ready to start!

After a few weeks of meetings with the builder in order to readjust the budget… Finally we are ready to start with the construction of bholu 8!

To lower the builder’s costs, we are going to source some materials ourselves like the roof sheeting, the doors and windows, the closet, the kathlos, and we along with other manav sadhna volunteers will paint the doors and windows.

We made a prototype kathlo which looks fantastic. We built the frame out of steel sections welded together, and used colourful recycled rope, made from second hand fabrics. We spent all day with the artisans helping them out and marveling at their handiwork.

This week we got the go ahead for construction to begin, so with all engines roaring we set off to the second hand market to buy some doors and windows. It was exciting, like a puzzle searching through hundreds of doors and windows in dusty rows, trying to find the correct pieces to fit our bholu 8. Three hours later, and after much haggling and fun, we emerged from the sawdust workshops with some really nice doors and windows.

The following day we went to the bholu 8 site, to stake out the plan, so excavation can begin shortly.

In other news, we have started work on the next Bholu site (number 9). It is situated in one of the biggest slums in Ahmedabad, adjacent to a nice shady plaza, a small shrine and ample open space. As well as a preschool, ther is the potential for Bholu 9 to also house a range of community events particularly for women including;

-vaccination camps

-cancer education for women (cervical and breast cancer)

-nutrition week events

We have had several meetings to gauge the needs of the community, and initial schematic design is underway.

Manav Sadhna is also interested in purchasing an exisiting house which backs onto the the Tekro community center to renovate into Bholu 10. We have had a look at the site with Nitabhen and we think it has a lot of potential.