Kaza Community Centre: we are currently sourcing land in Kaza for a Passive Solar Eco-Community Centre to be built in traditional style with re-enforcement for protection against earthquakes. It will incorporate solar energy for lighting, heating and hot water. The Centre is being designed by Auroville Earth Institute who specialises in Eco Technology.

As a centre for the local community, the building will include exhibition and library space, a dental clinic and eye testing facility. A large hall will  accommodate a coffee shop, and provide well-lit and heated space to allow village meetings and cultural activities to continue throughout the winter.

A most generous donation of £84,000 to this project by Adventure Ashram will pay for the land, the planning and building materials.

The Mission Hospital: in Kaza was started in 1993 and completed in 1995, under the umbrella of the Lady Willingdon Hospital in Manali. The structure is now 15 years old.

The hospital deals with respiratory infections, arthritic problems; thyroid deficiency and chronic altitude sickness that are endemic in the region. It is fully used during the summer months with doctors from Manali and visiting doctors from overseas. 

As a result of the continuous use and the harsh climate of the area, it needs refurbishment. Our intention is to up-grade the facilities to offer medical treatment all year round.

Mane Village School: building started in 2002 and was completed in 2005. At the beginning, there was no road to the village and all materials had to be brought in by donkey. The plan included five classrooms, a staff room, and a library dedicated to Natalie Pyke who sent over 60 boxes of books to the school.

Mane Village School was built at the request of the villagers and is traditional in style with a flat roof, wooden floors, with the addition of solar energy and a double-glazed conservatory (Glass House). On completion the Indian Government took over the running of the school and up-graded it to Secondary level.

The Craft Centre: was set up in 1997 to provide the women of the Valley an opportunity to earn their own income, through providing a commercial outlet for the traditional knitted and woven crafts of the area. The designs have been handed down from mother to daughter for many generations and Spiti Projects helps to keep this tradition alive through the Craft Centre. Most households have a loom in the kitchen where the mothers weave shawls between cooking and other domestic chores.

The art of Knitting was introduced to the valley by the Moravian missionaries in the 19th century. Hand knitted socks with geometric patterns, are made in many different designs from the good quality wool, often from their own sheep.

The Mud Brick Project: was set up in 2006 to encourage the return to traditional methods of building which are more suitable to conditions  in a seismic zone and which offer better thermal qualities than concrete in such a high altitude area. Research has shown that concrete blocks are expensive, have poor strength and low resistance to earthquakes and give poor thermal insulation in the extreme climates found in the high Himalayas. In order to reverse this trend, Spiti Projects held meetings to explain to local builders the advantage of using compressed earth blocks.

The Charity purchased a manual brick-making machine to produce compressed earth building blocks with a small addition of cement. The resulting brick is stronger, rain resistant, cheaper and has more insulation than regular concrete blocks, and can also be made on-site so reducing transport costs.

Knit-for-Spiti: Was  set up by Spiti Projects in 2008. We invite volunteers in the UK to knit sweaters for the children of the valley and have had a tremendous response from all over the country, especially from Scotland. We send the sweaters which are distributed to Spiti children for the winter, when temperatures fall below minus 30C.

If you would like to knit a sweater for Spiti children, click on the pattern link below.

spiti sweater knitting pattern.pdf

Mane Village Clinic: completed in 2010, is now in full use. Teams of doctors from Shimla visit regularly to hold screening clinics. People come from all over the valley to have a check-up. Routine blood pressure sugar and cholesterol levels are tested, which lead to the improvement of community health.

Mane Village Water Pump: pipes have been laid from a spring in the valley below the village for a distance of 320 metres, and a pump has been installed in the village. This has made water available to 400 villagers and spared them the necessity of carrying water up from the valley by hand, an arduous chore during the winter months. To be completed in 2012.