$ 2,000 HOME
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Designing A Low-Budget Home for Villagers in Bangladesh, 2017
One piece of burned brick costs 11.81 BDT (0.14 USD), one 15ft-long bamboo costs 250 BDT (2.95 USD), one mason laborer costs 500 BDT (5.9 USD) per day, etc. To build a house with 2,000 USD in the village of Mondopur in Bangladesh, this is a project about finding the balance of survival, livelihood, sustainability, and dignity.
I. Why $ 2,000 ?
The staff from Community Savings Group is introducing their projects to the villagers.
The group savings model is an effective way to lift Bangladeshi families out of poverty. Each household in the local Community Savings Group saves a minimum of 50 BDT (0.65 USD) per week. The Community Savings Group us 2,000,000 BDT (25,650 USD) as a revolving fund which is supported by the Asian Coalition of Community Action (ACCA). To build a house, each household is able to have a loan of 100,000 BDT (1,282 USD). The loan can be paid off in 8.3 years as 120,000 BDT in total (1,200 BDT per month). The "$ 2,000" is a sum of the loan and household savings.
II. The Household & Aspirations
Usha Rani's Home, Mondopur Village
Das para is a small community located in the village of Mondopur in Bangladesh. Well-known as the "weavers community", Das para's households make profits with their exquisite bamboo-woven utensils and artworks.
Usha Rani Das is a 45+ years old widow who lives in Das Para with other four family members - Shefali (daughter-in-law), Shapna (Shefali's daughter, 18-year-old), Bikash (Shefali's older son, 14-year-old), and Akash (Shefali's younger son, 11-year-old). Hari Das, Usha Rani's son who used to be one of the finest bamboo weavers in the community, has past away in 2013. Not having an adult male member made the family into a difficult livelihood. In the local society, males are responsible for cutting and slicing the whole bamboo into the slice, and in charge of selling home-made bamboo products in the market. Without Hari Das, Usha Rani's family is currently not making any bamboo weaving products.
Usha Rani (left), Akash (Younger Grandson, middle), Shefali (Daughter-in-law, right)
The older grandson (Bikash) works in a barbershop in the village, the younger grandson (Akash) is in school, the granddaughter (Shapna) works at home on a sewing machine, and Shefali, the daughter-in-law works as daily labor on the farming fields. Usha Rani's family was nominated by the community as one of the first recipients of a $ 2,000 Home project for their necessity, and their social and economic vulnerability.
There is one dwelling room with a lifted terrace covered by eave. Three kids sleep in the room, and Usha Rani and Shefali sleep on the terrace every day. And providing two new bedrooms is essential for the marriage of two grandsons. The design of Usha Rani's home is not only considered as a fulfillment of the family's aspiration of a new house, but also a chance to seek for new ways they can live.
Shapna (Granddaughter) made a model with mud and a hand-drew plan showing their requirements and aspirations for the new home.
III. The New Home
Usha Rani's Hone and Das Para Community
Usha Rani's Home is in the middle of Das Para and has a frontage along the only road in this community. Das Para is only 10 mins walk distance from the nearest tourist resort - Panigram. The well-known "weavers" community has a high potentiality of being a tourist spot for vernacular handicrafts since Panigram becomes fully opened.
As mentioned before, Usha Rani's son, Hari Das, used to be one of the best bamboo weavers in the village. The family is still willing to pick up their own bamboo weaving business, and that is the two grandsons' aspiration as well. Bamboo weaving requires an linear outdoor space that is covered by a canopy or eave. By looking at the site plan, it's not hard to notice that the frontage along the road can be an ideal place for bamboo weaving, showing, and selling business.
A tea house is a common retail and social space in local villages. Workers come to a tea house for the lunch break, and usually have a cup of tea and watch TV at the tea house after dinner. In Das Para, there is no tea house, and Usha Rani's home can be the ideal location of a family-owned tea house. Shefali and her daughter Shapna will be able to make profits by working at home, and they also can help Bikash and Akash for bamboo weaving works.
Usha Rani's Hone and Das Para Community
The budget of phase I is about 1600 USD, which provides two bedrooms for Bikash and Akash, and a spacious shaded terrace that can be used as a bamboo weaving workshop. Within 1-2 years, Usha Rani's Family will be able to afford phase II - the street-facing space that can be used as a tea house and a handicraft selling store. 5 years after the completion of phase II, they will be able to build phase III, and by that time two more new bedrooms will be provided to Usha Rani and Shefali.
Phasing Diagrams of Usha Rani's Home
