Sep 1, 20192 min read

A brand new home for our children

During five long months, works have been going on in our center of EPN, after nearly 30 years.

Renovation of the Girl's Hostel

The first floor was built in 1989... It needed a good refreshment. The whole building was renovated, masonry repaired, external and internal plastering and painting were done. Carpentry work was done for doors and windows. We also added some rain guards to prevent the water to flood in during storms and monsoon time. One roof shed was built on the roof for drying cloths during rainy season. Works occurred in the storage room to avoid flooding during rainy season. The most urgent works was done for the toilets. Outside toilets and showers were renovated, with a new floor plastering, and new doors. A dressing room was built in order to ensure maximum privacy for the girls. A roof shed was added on the terrace above the multipurpose hall to allow the girls to dry their close in a covered place. Two storage rooms located in the girls Hostel have been combined in a bigger one, allowing to transform an outside door into a window, to improve space organization for food storage and to decrease flooding problems during monsoon season.

Boy's Hostel renewal

Even older than the girl's hostel, built in 1988, it needed also some good repairs. As for the girl’s Hostel, main work was the renovation of the whole building, repairing of the masonry, external and internal plastering and painting, and reflooring of the ground floor, including two guestrooms for volunteers or visitors. Carpentry work was done for doors and windows. Rain guards were added where missing. One roof shed was built in front of the hostel for drying cloths during rainy season.

A new building

The Home in charge used to work in the multipurpose hall, with no proper cupboard or cabinet to keep the files and no proper place to receive the children’s guardians for administrative purpose. A brand new office, small but sufficient enough for the work of 10,5 squared meters was built close to the multipurpose hall, and it allowed us to clean the area from an old broken-down wall.

Various repairs in the center

• Boundary wall: The state of the boundary wall was for certain parts in a very bad state. The masonry in India gets damaged very quickly because of the humidity, and especially during monsoon season. Moreover, as the road in front of the center was upgraded, the height of the wall appeared lower. Therefore, privacy on the girls’ side was not guaranteed anymore. The boundary wall was thus raised.

• Kitchen: A new roof shed was installed over the kitchen building to replace the old asbestos one that had been damaged by the numerous monkeys present here. The water drain running under the kitchen area was renovated and a new external flooring was made to allow the hundreds of school children coming for lunch every day not to have their feet in the mud.