Build Bridges for Health, Education & Hope - Nepal

Summary

VillageTech Solutions funds a popular, all-weather "gondola" bridge in Nepal. The bridge moves 40 to 80 adults, or 80 to 160 children per hour, safely each way across rivers up to 160 meters wide. progress report read updates from the field

How Donors Like You Helped

Thanks to donors like you, a total of £2,584 was raised for this project.

More Information About this Project

Project Needs and Beneficiaries

12 million Nepalese live in the Himalayan foothills where rivers are hazardous obstacles. Limited access denies many children an education, discourages proper health care, and increases the cost of goods. To cross more than 10 meters, there have been only two alternatives: an extremely dangerous cable 'tween' wherein a makeshift trapeze or wooden box hangs from a pulley that often crushes the user's fingers, or an expensive suspended walking bridge.

Activities

Since 1998 34 gondola-like WireBridges have been built over dangerous rivers in Nepal at a quarter the cost of suspended bridges. Only two to four months are needed to complete each bridge.

Funding Information

Total Funding Received to Date: £2,584

Funding Information

This project is now in implementation and no longer available for funding. Received funds will be used to accomplish concrete objectives as indicated in the project's "Activities" section. Updates will be posted under the "Progress Report" tab as they become available.

Donors' contributions and pledges to this project totaled £2,584. The original project funding goal was £2,036.

Additional Documentation

This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).

Resources

Why this Project is Important

Potential Long Term Impact

In more than 1,000 Nepalese communities, schoolchildren and others want "to reach the other side" safely. Village children and adults have used the 34 WireBridges more than 3.2 million times with no accidents. Requests for bridges are overwhelming.

Project Message

WireBridges are not just structures. They also are symbols of cooperation. Every client community has put a 'bridge' above politics and despite the regional conflict, no bridge has ever been harmed.
- David Sowerwine, Co-founder

Who is Running This Project

Contact

David Sowerwine,
Managing Director
999 Olive Street
Menlo Park, California 94025
United States
650-380-5008
Email:

Project Sponsor

Tech Museum Awards

Organisation

VillageTech Solutions (VTS)
999 Olive Street
Menlo Park, CA 94025
United States
650-853-1713
http://www.villagetechsolutions.org

Learn more about VillageTech Solutions (VTS) and the project team.

VillageTech Solutions (VTS)'s Funded Projects on GlobalGiving

Give Pedal-Generated Light to Millions of Nepalis

Where this Project is Located

Country

This project is located in Nepal and can also be found under Economic Development.

For more information about Nepal, read the Human Development Report on Nepal or the Wikipedia entry for Nepal.

When this Project was Updated

Last Updated

This project was last updated on July 23, 2010.

Date Added to GlobalGiving

This project was added to the GlobalGiving project catalog on June 01, 2004.

Latest Update from the Field

Funding for #35, starting #36

By David Sowerwine - Bridge Builder, December 11, 2009 11:07 AM

Thanks to many loyal donors the funding of bridge # 35 at Jagare Phant is complete. The VillageSolutions team in Nepal will begin work on this site probably in January. The continued political unrest often results in the roads being closed, so the exact starting date can't be predicted. Photos will be posted when work begins.

Funding has begun for bridge #36, the first of four now in the queue requested by villagers.

Read 11 more "Updates from the Field" | Comment on this update

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