FoST Workshop

We spent our first three days here observing a workshop put on by FoST (Foundation for Sustainable Technologies), one of the organizations we're planning to work with, on how to make cooking briquettes from waste materials. The workshop provided us a wonderful way to get to know Sanu Kaji, the founder of FoST whom I've been corresponding with, become acquainted with the briquette-making process, and interact with the nearly forty urban and rural Nepalese men and women in attendance. The workshop was held at a building that was still under construction at the new bus station in Kathmandu (Gongabu Bus Park), and we took over one side of the concrete roof (soon to become the floor of the second story).

The workshop was sponsored by two Rotary clubs, and most attendees were members of various Nepali organizations who received a stipend to attend the conference with. Nonetheless, it was encouraging to see just about everybody get down and dirty on the Bus Park roof as we manually pulped office paper, cut up long grass and sticks into tiny bits, mashed it all into a slurry with our bare feet, squeezed the water out and created briquettes with simple presses, and left everything to dry in the hot winter sun. The resulting briquettes are far more efficient and long-lasting than wood, create 70% less smoke than wood, do not contribute to deforestation, are the least expensive fuel option on the Nepalese market, and can be produced by rural villages from their waste materials and other quickly renewing resources (grasses/nuts/etc..).

On the first evening of the workshop, Sanu Kaji invited Ashley and I over to his place in Thamel for a drink and dinner. After a taxi-ride through the worst grid-lock of my life, a stop the butcher, and a harrowing game of follow-the-leader through more dark-crazy-crowded-narrow streets, we sat down in Sanu's sitting room and ate a delicious traditional meal prepared by Sanu's wife (using a chicken we picked up from the butcher just before), drank deliciously smooth homemade whiskey, and talked about projects to come in the months ahead.

By the end of the workshop Ashley and I had made friends with a bunch of Nepalese folks, two other volunteers (a Frenchman who seems to be involved with every NGO in Nepal, his Japanese
girlfriend, and a Shell employee from Singapore who is helping Sanu with marketing), and the FoST crew. It was great to watch the pride participants took in their work, and they were properly rewarded during a closing ceremony, complete with certificates signed by the dignitaries from the Rotary.

All in all, this was a really fun way to be introduced to 'real' Nepal, and set us up well for a productive experience with FoST.