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Published November 08, 2012, 12:00 AM

Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build in Nepal

Bob and Barb Peterson of the town of St. Joseph were part of an army of 450 volunteers working on 35 houses.


Robert, upper left, and Barbara Peterson, middle top, pose with fellow Habitat for Humanity volunteers and the family in Nepal that they assisted.

  • Robert, upper left, and Barbara Peterson, middle top, pose with fellow Habitat for Humanity volunteers and the family in Nepal that they assisted.
  • Habitat for Humanity volunteers work on the exterior of a four-room, mud-brick house in a small village 20 miles outside of Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • Chhetra Bahadur Bhandari proudly sits on the Personal Energy Transportation (PET) vehicle that he received in 2009 from an organization to which Robert Peterson of the town of St. Joseph belongs. At right is Ramchandra Dahal, director of the Lions Club of Kathmandu, Nepal. Bhandari has an American flag on the vehicle out of gratitude for the gift from the Minneapolis chapter of The PET Project.
  • Barbara Peterson of the town of St. Joseph puts mud plaster on the exterior of a house for a Nepalese family. Peterson and her husband, Robert, spent a week working on the house during a more than two-week trip to Nepal and India.
  • Barb Peterson, front, and Velda Johnson prepare to climb out of a mud pit that was used to make the plaster for the exterior of a house. The recipe for the plaster was four parts mud, one part cow dung and one part rice hulls.
  • Rjan Bahadur holds a tray of marigold blossoms that were used to bless Habitat for Humanity volunteers who helped in the construction of a home for his family. Bahadur worked alongside the volunteers during the week-long project.
  • Robert and Barbara Peterson enjoy the company of the mother and daughter who will live in the Habitat for Humanity house they helped construct – plus that of a local English teacher and interpreter, and a community leader.
  • Owners of some of the 35 houses that were worked on during Blitz Build in Nepal in October show appreciation for the 450 Habitat for Humanity volunteers from around the world who participated in the project.
  • Barbara and Robert Peterson visit the Taj Mahal during a weeklong tour of India. The white marble mausoleum was built by an emperor for his third wife. It was completed in 1653.