Ten Months Later

By Kamla Bajracharya

"In February 2016, almost ten months after the initial earthquake, I travelled to Nepal. I wanted to see my family, but also wanted to visit the different villages that I knew from before. It seemed that some form of normal life had returned to Nepal. People moved back into their houses, went back to their work and continued their daily life. But the devastation is everywhere: Wherever I went, I saw houses that were partially or completely destroyed. Many people still living in temporary shelters in fields and open places, without access to drinking water or basic hygiene. So many have lost their jobs or other sources of income.

"Just after I arrived in Kathmandu, at 10 pm, another aftershock hit the city. I have never been so scared! I cannot imagine my friends and relatives having to live through this, with small aftershocks happening almost every other day!

"I went to see some of the villages where I used to visit when I was still a student: Sana Gaun Panga, Bungamati and Lubhu. I was shocked to see how these villages outside the big city of Kathmandu were affected by the earthquake. Wherever I went, were piles of rubble and debris – we were climbing over huge piles of broken bricks to reach what was left over from damaged and partially collapsed houses. I met with Nirmala Shrestha, a lady who lost her house and was living in one of the temporary shelters that we helped building. Nirmala was organizing a group of five women who had a plan to start manufacturing masala (spices), as a way to generate a bit of income. However, the women have no money to buy the necesssary equipment so we are looking into ways of helping them.

"Everywhere I went, the houses that I remembered from the past have turned into rubble, temples that have been damaged beyond repair. But also everywhere I met small groups of people with plans how to improve their situation: Women with ideas how to start new cottage industry or community farming, youngsters who helped with the initial relief efforts right after the earthquake and turned that into their small community organization."