Two weeks ago, we started construction on a shower at the ARK ecocamp and since we’re all about transparency, we thought it might be interesting to fill you guys in on what was involved in the completion this project--especially if you love ‘Do-It-Yourself’ activities as much as we do.
The entire shower cost somewhere around 120,000AMD (~$250). And as this was quite an intensive project, rather than relying on volunteers as we usually do, we hired local specialists to help us turn it into a reality. We also just like providing jobs and stimulating the local economy whenever we can afford to.
ARK’s shower occupies what used to be an old shed that we initially purchased with the plot of land that now makes up our ecocamp. We repurposed the shed into a shower and hired someone to clean it up thoroughly, paint it and install the necessary materials.
The entire shower cost somewhere around 120,000AMD (~$250). And as this was quite an intensive project, rather than relying on volunteers as we usually do, we hired local specialists to help us turn it into a reality. We also just like providing jobs and stimulating the local economy whenever we can afford to.
ARK’s shower occupies what used to be an old shed that we initially purchased with the plot of land that now makes up our ecocamp. We repurposed the shed into a shower and hired someone to clean it up thoroughly, paint it and install the necessary materials.
There were several stages to this project. The first was with creating the shower’s water supply. This project required us to connect the main water source, a city pipeline running underneath the camp, to a tank that will collect water overnight to be used during the day. Then, we connected the water in the tank to the shower through a hose.
After that, we had to provide electricity to the shower, which will be used to install lights in the shower, work the water pump, and later, it will allow us to heat up the water (Yes! We’ll have hot showers at the camp!).
We also had someone come in specifically to help us weld the water tank that we purchased. Instead of buying a new water tank, we decided to recycle an old one, but it had many holes, so we had to close and fill them. This was very time consuming, but well worth it.
Lastly, we had to clean up the old shed, paint and redecorate it, and install the shower pieces.
As of right now, the shower is almost finished! We only need to purchase and install a boiler and it could be ready and raring to go by tomorrow. However, boilers are a relatively expensive investment and not always easy to find in Kapan, so it’s difficult to predict when we’ll have the funds to make this happen, but as always, we are very optimistic! Especially after our last crowdfunding campaign, which has not only brought us funding to start construction on our next ecocamp in Arajadzor (which we are calling ominously, ‘The Dacha’, because it’s the family countryhouse of our founder, Armen), but has also allowed us to reach more eyes and ears than ever before so that more and more people are coming to stay with us, volunteering, making donations, and continuing to make our organization sustainable.
So, we’ll keep you posted on when it’s ready. In any case, we have a shower at our office in downtown Kapan for those of you who want to visit before the ecocamp’s shower is complete. So don’t let that stop you. Plus, there’s always rain!
We also had someone come in specifically to help us weld the water tank that we purchased. Instead of buying a new water tank, we decided to recycle an old one, but it had many holes, so we had to close and fill them. This was very time consuming, but well worth it.
Lastly, we had to clean up the old shed, paint and redecorate it, and install the shower pieces.
As of right now, the shower is almost finished! We only need to purchase and install a boiler and it could be ready and raring to go by tomorrow. However, boilers are a relatively expensive investment and not always easy to find in Kapan, so it’s difficult to predict when we’ll have the funds to make this happen, but as always, we are very optimistic! Especially after our last crowdfunding campaign, which has not only brought us funding to start construction on our next ecocamp in Arajadzor (which we are calling ominously, ‘The Dacha’, because it’s the family countryhouse of our founder, Armen), but has also allowed us to reach more eyes and ears than ever before so that more and more people are coming to stay with us, volunteering, making donations, and continuing to make our organization sustainable.
So, we’ll keep you posted on when it’s ready. In any case, we have a shower at our office in downtown Kapan for those of you who want to visit before the ecocamp’s shower is complete. So don’t let that stop you. Plus, there’s always rain!
