Hariyo Chowk

Thank you | Dhanyabad!

With the help of 53 funders we successfully raised over $3,400! We are overwhelmed by the gracious comments and support our team recieved. We are now excited for the next steps toward making Kathmandu greener and we will start with fulfilling YOUR PERKS - consisting of creating a mural, seed bombs, environmental graffiti and a few garden beds! Stay posted on our progress via the Hariyo Chowk Facebook page (www.facebook.com/HariyoChowk)!  

Grateful + Gardening,

- Hariyo Chowk Team

Who We Are

Sattya Media Arts Collective in Kathmandu Nepal has set out to transform a space into a modern adaption of a traditional chowk - Hariyo Chowk. Hariyo Chowk or 'green square' is an area to learn and share about urban greening and how to create a socially sustainable future for Kathmandu. 

Hariyo Chowk has been made possible with a multifaceted team of passionately dedicated people knowledgeable about sustainable architecture, design, organic farming, photography, and media. Aside from our hired team, the 'green square' has come into fruition with help from dozens of volunteers, students, organizations, and volunteer teachers that have supported us since we began in the Spring of 2012. 

Why Kathmandu?

As Kathmandu rapidly urbanizes there are fewer and fewer green spaces left in the city once known for urban farming. Air quality, pollution, and lack of electricity are daily problems for locals. Hariyo Chowk has the potential to grow a sustainable future with Kathmandu by empowering its people with environmental awareness, social sustainability and urban greening knowledge specific to the region's problems and resources. 

Things We Have Done

So many people have helped us bloom to where we are today. With our initial fundraiser we were able to raise $12,000, which we have been using resourcefully towards construction, administration, workshop costs and salaries. Specifically Hariyo Chowk has:

• Designed and constructed our own green space to near completion. Hariyo Chowk's home base is used for holding fun and educational workshops, gardening, and documentary screening.
• Built affordably with recycled and natural materials:
  - an outdoor urbanite pavilion
  - a bamboo structure for vertical gardening
  - a garden for native, edible, and medicinal plants
  - a compost bin to manage food waste and produce fertilizer
  - a workshop area for arts and education
  - a rainwater collection system to reduce reliance on city water
  - a sunken fire pit for outdoor gatherings 
  - an earthen oven made out of mud bricks
• Maintained media coverage via Facebook on our process and gained a following of over 1000 people.
• Built relationships with community and local organizations
• Held events and workdays for local community, youth and organization groups.

Our Campaign Goal

Hariyo Chowk has has spent the last 8 months creating our own green space, a hub for the community to learn and practice sustainable gardening and building. We have been working resourcefully with existing contributions and will be celebrating our grand opening in March 2013. We are envisioning a new season to begin in April, in which we want to grow in two specific ways:

• To become financially self-sustained within Kathmandu. We will make this possible by selling plants and seed at markets, forging relationships with local organizations, and hosting affordable workshops, events, film screenings and even parties. 
• To make Kathmandu greener with guerrilla gardening, having workdays during which we will maintain existing public green spaces, aid people in start-up of community gardens and more edible plants, and starting a seed bank and library of native plant knowledge.

What We Need

Hariyo Chowk is a community project and we are extreamly grateful to have the fruits of our labour and community grow with your support!