We work in communities across Nepal to bring good housing to some of the world’s most marginalized people.
Nearly one third of Nepal’s population is experiencing multidimensional poverty, limiting access to good shelter.
STATUS: CURRENT PROGRAM
Nuwakot
After rebuilding 5 communities post-earthquake, we zoomed out to study the earthquake reconstruction effort in Nepal. Our research consistently found one population being barred access to equitable housing resources: Women-led Families.
In Nuwakot, 23% of households are headed by women.
Yet 85% of women in Nuwakot do not own any property.
Our Focus
Women-led families who lack permanent housing.
The majority of our families are led by widows who are striving against all odds to provide a good life for their children.
With children age 17 and under.
By focusing on providing good homes for kids, we ensure our programming has long-term generational impact.
Who live on less than $2 per day.
Our partner families are struggling to put food on the table, leaving no resources for building adequate housing.
Our program supports women to:
1. Acquire land in their name
2. Learn earthquake resilient construction techniques
3. Build their dream home alongside licensed contractors
4. Train on context-relevant vocational skills
5. Launch their new home business
6. Begin a new and hopeful chapter of life
Why it matters.
All human beings need food, water, and shelter to live a good life. Without them, families can’t succeed and risks to physical and mental health increase. Children experiencing housing insecurity are at greater risk of violence, discrimination, poverty, child marriage, and child trafficking. Homeownership is also shown to increase earnings, which increases investments in nutrition, education, and healthcare. Altogether, good homes are for everyone because we all deserve a shot at a good life.
See the stories of some of our Nuwakot partner families.
These hardworking partner families want to share their stories with you because they know the difference homeownership has made in their lives and they want to see other families succeed too.
STATUS: CURRENT PROGRAM
Saptari
As natural disasters displace more and more people globally, NIVAS is expanding our service area to bring safe shelter to highly-impacted and vulnerable communities.
Saptari lies at the intersection of climate-disaster and extreme caste discrimination.
Here the Musahar and DOM Communities are considered “untouchables” severely limiting their access to safe land and decent employment. The literacy rate hovers around 20% and the prevalence of child marriage at 83%, well above the national average. Common marriage age for girls is 12 years old. A major hurdle to increasing household assets and secure housing (which create a buffer against child marriage, child trafficking, and malnutrition) are the one meter or higher floods that occur annually in Saptari.
Join us as we support this community to build resiliency in the face of adversity.
We are building partnerships and developing flood and earthquake resilient home designs to provide context-relevant solutions for women-led families in Saptari. Join us to help this community adapt to an ever-changing micro-climate and improve their living conditions dramatically.
STATUS: PROGRAM completed
Damku
In 2015 two 7.8M+ earthquakes struck nepal, devastating the entire country. Through our 2015 - 2018 Recover Nepal program, we helped the families of 5 municipalities collectively called Damku in rural Solukhumbu to rebuild their homes and their lives.
Damku
Solukhumbu lies in a very remote mountainous region which creates barriers to its residents’ ability to build safe, affordable, and adequate shelter. This is where our partnership was critical to rebuilding post-earthquake. Through our collaboratively designed program families gained the construction training to build their homes with earthquake resilient techniques. They gained access to materials and funding that would otherwise have been out of reach. Together in this partnership, the village has come to life again as families moved from focusing on maintaining make-shift bamboo and tarp shelters to prospering in their new and beautiful homes.
Since April 2015 we've managed to collectively rebuild 100% of the damaged homes in this 5 village district. Please check out our impact report on this meaningful project.
311 People now have safe housing.
STATUS: PROGRAM completed
Taksindu
In early 2013 leaders from the villages of Taksindu in rural Nepal brought to our attention that the lack of sanitation in their region was creating big health problems for their community. Nivas teamed up with community groups and our local partner NGO to confront the issue. Through collaboration and a lot of hard work, this 9- village community now has 100% sanitation in all homes and schools.
