The New Year has been wonderful, we have ourselves a new eco-friendly construction, made from sustainably sourced bamboo, treated with boric acid. What’s wonderful is that it is Raja’s friends who promote these interesting types of buildings, called geodesic domes. This collective of creative artists and critical thinkers are part of Mango People, whom we mentioned in the last post. Mango People is a charity working to bring sustainable living to rural India, through spreading its knowledge and know-how to villages, farmers, schools and inspired groups around the country.
Domes can be used as living spaces, nurseries, classrooms and much more. Structurally, they are very resilient to nature’s forces and require little maintenance. The domes are very quick to put together and come as a pre-designed kit provided through the charity at a small cost. The day was a great success. We Started at 5:30am, working through to 5:30pm and the result is featured in the photograph below. (Please excuse the washing drying on the ladder).
So the big white thing, yeah, that’s our dome! At the moment we’re still getting certain features sorted, but sleeping in it has already proved very popular!
The day in pictures… To coin a well-known phrase, ‘a good time was had by all’.
The geo-dome will act as accommodation, easily sleeping up to 14 people. The arrangements will be basic, allowing for the dome to be used for other activities in the day. Simple roll out mats, and camping gear is the route for now, and once the flooring, weather-proofing, windows and furniture are organised, we will start to think about added comfort.
Farmhouse fun!
Whilst all this has been going on, the influx of helping hands has allowed us to progress with the farmhouse. For those who are not aware, our hope is to temporarily operate the community cafe from the farmhouse, then in time, when the cafe building is finished, the farmhouse will be used as a functional room, with a small kitchen, seating area, charging points and administrative facilities.
We now have some basic facilities inside the farmhouse, making it easier for people to stay on the farm. ‘But wait, what about the walls?’ you might be thinking. Don’t worry, we are in the process of finishing the walls, which will be followed by plastering. The facilities inside the farmhouse are continuously changing to meet the current needs, only once the walls and roofing are complete will we be able to complete the interior layout.
Oh! Before we finish… The little bottle wall has been made between the two walls to the shower- attaching the back wall to the toilet block. They make lovely little colourful windows. You can see the wall in the slideshow above.
Even though it’s been quite a short time, a lot has happened since our post in 2017. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped out over the last few weeks. We have made great progress. We would also like to thank everyone supporting our work, through their own efforts or contributions, throughout 2017. We wouldn’t be able to do this without you all- thank you. May 2018 be a wonderful year for you all.
Happy New Year!
– from the Aranya Eco Village team
Aranya Eco Village 