Mud School Building Restoration Fundraiser

Help us restore and conserve Muskaan NGO’s earthen school — 

for children who need it the most. You can help us rebuild not only safe walls but also spaces of dignity, resilience and hope. 

Since 1998, Muskaan NGO has been tirelessly ensuring education and child rights access to children of denotified tribes and marginalized communities in and around Bhopal. For our community of educators and students, our mud-building community school, Jeevan Siksha Pahal, isn’t just a cluster of classrooms and hostel rooms- it’s a symbol of belonging and dignity. Today, this mud-building requires urgent repairs to its weathered walls and faces an uncertain future. 

ABOUT THIS BUILDING

Muskaan’s Mud Home is a 2 storey Adobe bricks building, each floor of 6620 SqFt built-up area. It’s one of the biggest contemporary Adobe structures in India designed by Kamath Design Studio and built around 2017. 

More than passion, this building embodies the ambition that Revathi Kamath had to prove that mud could create architecture that was monumental, modern and rooted. The mud walls are familiar and welcoming to students who come from village homes made of mud and thatch. The spaces are designed to help students open up without hesitation or intimidation of an alienating urban world. At the same time, this building is intended to be a stark model of ecological design, local-traditional construction methods, and environmental protection. Currently it hosts 165 students with hostel space for more than 50 students. 

 Have more insight into the building process in this video. 

After monsoon showers in September 2024, a wall collapsed due to water seepage. Similar structural instability has been identified across the building. These are currently braced by temporary structural supports. The collapsed wall, connected to our boys’ and girl’s washrooms, has rendered both the washrooms unusable, leading to alarming hygiene and sanitation concerns. Without further repairs, the school building may not be the safest place for our children to resort to. And, many of them don’t have other places to safely return to. 

Moving ahead: 

We plan on undertaking a restoration process that honours the original materials and intent, while strengthening and conserving it for the future. But why mud architecture in the first place? 

For restoring and conserving this school, we choose to lean on natural building techniques to repair damaged walls and make structural improvements (adding plinth protection, extending ledges, reinforcing lintels, correcting arches among other details). Reconstructing hygienic and accessible toilets for both girls and boys is a top priority. 

We are working closely with architects and conservation consultants. Also, 3 labourers are required to work on the construction daily, along with 2 masons to construct the outer structures on a regular basis. When we work on supporting the lintels, and centering the arches, the number of labourers will be temporarily increased to 10 to provide additional support.

We are hoping to complete all structural changes before monsoon this year. 

How can you help us? 

Donate:

The total cost for the restoration is projected at INR 45,00,000. This will include the repair and reconstruction of the parts of the building that require upgrading, as well as the electrical and plumbing work to ensure the toilets are in operation as soon as possible. A detailed estimate of the cost has been included on this link. 

You can donate through this form. All donations directly impact the organisation and help us further our mission. For donations related queries contact us at +91-91659 28519

Bank Account: 

Name- Muskaan

Bank Name- Bank of Baroda

Account No- 12230100002724

IFSC- BARBOTATYAT

Branch- TT Nagar, Bhopal

UPI ID- muska78694@barodampay            

Volunteer:

You can come and help us on site by documenting in photo, video, sketches and writing. You will learn the process of restoration that we are taking and also about the different techniques that were used to built the Adobe Mud building. Volunteering charges are INR 800/day. 

If you wish to volunteer with us on site, contact us at +91-7000084691.

You can know more about Muskaan NGO here www.muskaan.org