Nostos Homes

Madhav co-founded Nostos Homes, with fellow Ambassador Kaushal Shetty, to provide tangible solutions for people in positions of forced displacement. There were 115.6 million forced displacements as a result of natural disasters and conflict worldwide between 2020 and 2022 [1]. Nostos Homes is building sustainable homes from 90% recycled material that overcome the disadvantages of transient, temporary shelters, thereby providing displaced people with stability, security, and a foundation upon which to rebuild their lives.

Madhav attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018. He was a Delegate Speaker, and has utilised the Community as a resource for advice and mentorship. Madhav is active in the Community and has collaborated on projects with other Ambassadors, serving on the board of a fellow Ambassador’s non-profit organisation.

Nostos Homes has provided more than 500,000 nights of shelter through deployments in India and Malawi. A Nostos home provides approximately 32,800 nights of shelter over a lifespan of 30 years, facilitating a 45% reduction in health hazards for internally displaced people. Each home also enables an additional 3,000 days of livelihood and 1,500 days of education for the forcibly displaced. The organisation empowers local communities to deploy its structures themselves, involving them in the building process with the homes not requiring specialised training or tools. Nostos Homes is also recreating community structures to foster a shared sense of belonging.

“One aspect that significantly impacted our growth was the visibility that came through One Young World. This exposure really helped us scale our access to funding and volunteers, and supported our credibility for projects. The Community has been such an incredible source of support across so many collaborative projects we've undertaken so far.”