Working shoulder to shoulder with the Nepalese a year on from the earthquake

The Phikuti trail bridge in Dolakha, 135 kilometres west of Kathmandu, is a lifeline for surrounding communities. The bridge, built in 1986 with the support of the SDC, connected thousands of villagers to Charikot, the district capital, and to the health posts, schools and markets on the other side.

But when the earthquake struck Nepal in April 2015, the force swayed the 62 metres trail bridge so violently that that it snapped the hand rail cable and disturbed the balance of the bridge, cutting the communities off at a time of disaster. The next crossing was more than one hour’s walk away. This bridge was among the 110 trail bridges in 16 districts that were damaged throughout the country in the earthquake and its aftershocks.

When the monsoon came in June 2015, the foot trails that were wiped out in landslides became even more dangerous. The villagers got together to bring a crane to pull the cables tight. The bridge was still lopsided, but could sustain one person at a time.

«It was still very scary, but we had to go to school,» says 11-year-old Praju Tamang, whose mother would carry her in a precarious trip across the lopsided bridge to get to her classes. Schoolchildren would even swim across the river on a tire tube to get to school or stay at a relative's home on the other side.

But not any more. A year after the quake, the Phikuti trail bridge has been rebuilt with SDC support to Nepal's government bodies. The support will be extended to restore all 110 quake-hit trail bridges, reopening easy transportation and river crossings to about 200,000 people in more than 95 villages.

«Now it is very easy, we can even take our livestock to the vet if they get sick. We can go across anytime and bring what we need,» says local Ishwari Adhikari Khadka.

Former migrant worker Dilli Gubaju watched his home in Chuchure turn to rubble when devastating twin earthquakes hit Nepal in April last year. His family of ten, including parents and siblings, would have been braving a second monsoon in a flimsy temporary shelter had Dilli not found an opportunity to get trained as a construction worker for earthquake resilient homes. His family recently moved into one of the first model homes built in his village.

«This house is stronger and more resilient than older houses because of its tie beams... I don't think this one will collapse in such a quake,» Dilli explained, using construction terms he recently learned. «I believe I can now help others build as well.»

Dilli was one of the ten people from his village that took a 50-day skills training course on construction under the Employment Fund, a project backed by the SDC.

Over 500,000 private houses were destroyed and almost 280,000 were partially damaged when the earthquake struck last year. As the nation rebuilds, there is an urgent need for skilled masons and carpenters. However, workers who also have knowledge about earthquake resilient building techniques are in short supply.

The Employment Fund, which has already helped conduct government-certified training for around 100,000 skilled workers, had its term extended to support Nepal's earthquake recovery efforts. The project aims to train 3,000 people from disaster-affected districts in relevant reconstruction trades and in the use of earthquake-resilient building techniques.

«We select people for the training, focusing on the unemployed from disadvantaged backgrounds who have the need to acquire skills that can help them earn a living,» says Ganga Bahadur Bishwakarma, coordinator of the training. At least 4,000 houses will be built, with trainees constructing their own homes and helping their neighbours as well.

Nineteen-year-old Sabina Gubaju, who has passed 10th grade, also took the training along with Dilli and has completed her house. «I joined because I was interested in learning something... I learned how to put a foundation in place and other construction skills,» Sabina said, adding that she hopes to get a job later as a result of the training.

Thirty-six-year-old Indira Karki's garden in Betali used to grow a colourful variety of vegetables. Fat pumpkins sprung up amid red chillies and green beans, ensuring a flow of vegetables in her kitchen to feed her family of four. But as the earthquake damaged her home and destroyed her seed storage, she was left empty-handed in a temporary shelter as the planting season approached.

«Some seeds were buried, some were lost and others were unusable when we tried to dig them out of the rubble,» Karki recalls. Along with seed bins and storage structures, several irrigation canals were destroyed as well.

A year on, Karki has mushrooms ready to sprout and a larger variety of vegetables than before, thanks to the Rebuilding Family Farming (RFF) programme, implemented by agriculture-based organisation LI-BIRD with the support of the SDC. The programme distributed seeds critical for families like Karki's, helping them to cope after the quake.

«If we had not received those seeds, we would have no choice but to buy them from shops,» said Karki, at a time when her family resources were already strained to sustain their lives and rebuild their home after the quake.

The RFF project distributed seeds of a number of summer and winter vegetables to quake-hit farmers in order for them to restore their farming systems, and also to increase incomes through the sale of surplus production. «Our intention is multiplication so the farmers can sustain themselves long-term» Meena Gurung who works with LI-BIRD explains.

The project was implemented in 45 villages in various districts throughout the country. Also supporting the government’s agriculture subsidy programme, especially for the procurement and distribution of agricultural inputs, the project aimed to benefit over 30,000 households.

Ranju Ghimire, who also lost her seeds during the quake, is thankful to the programme for introducing farming of new varieties of crops, which has now changed her family's diet to include nutritious vegetables, some she had never grown before on her farm.

«I used to wonder how and where carrots grew, now I know, » said Ghimire. «The free distribution of seeds really made our life easier.»

Experiencing a disaster like an earthquake and the devastation it brings can leave an impact on the psychology of a person. While some might recover soon, others are haunted by the trauma even months after.

The Center for Mental Health and Counselling (CMC-Nepal) worked to provide psychological counselling to quake survivors in ten districts. Its operation in Dolakha, Ramechhap and Okhaldhunga were funded by the SDC.

Last year, the programme held orientations for 8,246 people, counselling 709 individually while referring 46 to specialised services. The counsellors identified cases of post-traumatic stress (PTSD), depression and substance abuse, usually alcohol. There were also cases of relapse of mental health illnesses and epilepsy.

When the earthquake hit, 33-year old Sita (not her real name) was heating water to give her child a bath. She gathered her three children in the house but was buried after a wall collapsed. Sita was rescued, but when she heard that her six-year-old daughter had not survived, she fainted.

«When I woke up I cried… I felt terrible. I searched for my children», Sita said. She was taken to a hospital in Kathmandu and spent over two months in the city, but returning home was traumatic for her. The loss of her daughter clouded her thoughts, no matter what she did.

«I then met you and you counselled me, and since then I slowly started feeling better», she said, speaking to her counsellor. «If I had not found you, who knows where I would be. Perhaps I would be wandering around like a mad woman. I have changed so much, I tell myself so when I look at myself in the mirror», she said.

Counsellor Laxmi Tamang of CMC-Nepal said that in the beginning it was very difficult for the victims to speak, but regular counselling helped build trust and they opened up to her. She remembers having been approached by worried parents saying that their 10-year-old son’s behaviour had changed after the quake. The boy had a broken leg, but it was his crying and his panic attacks that were more troubling.

«Even the wind would scare him, he would say that an earthquake is coming. He wouldn’t stay indoors and would cry all the time», his mother explains. «But after you came he became better», the woman says while looking at Laxmi Tamang… «I now feel very good.»

For decades, the «sweating» of the stone idol in the Dolakha Bhimeshwor Temple has been believed to be a harbinger of cataclysm to Nepal and the country’s former royal family. The locals have watched the deity “sweat” ahead of several of Nepal’s political and social upheavals including the royal massacre in 2001, the people’s revolution in 2006 that ended monarchy and even the earthquake of 1934.

But even the gods failed to predict the devastating earthquake and its numerous aftershocks that took place in April and May 2015. While the Bhimeshwor Temple itself remained unscathed, nearly 700 monuments of cultural heritage were destroyed or damaged across the country, including several in the historical Newar settlement of Dolakha lying some 100 kilometres west of the capital Kathmandu.

«Few people died here, but the quake destroyed our whole heritage,» said Buddhi Bahadur Achaju, who belongs to the family of priests and caretakers of Dolakha’s three-storied Tripura Sundari Temple that completely collapsed in the earthquake. With the temple gone, the goddess is now housed in a temporary structure built by locals. «Our cultural heritage is our pride and represents the community’s image and uniqueness. Now, without the temple, the locality is reduced to ordinariness,» Achaju added.

In the Dolakha settlement, nearly 90 per cent of the houses and key temples were damaged by the earthquake. The SDC has been joining hands with locals and the government to restore the settlement’s religiously important sites. The detailed plans for respectful and careful reconstruction, using improved traditional techniques, were completed in April 2016, and the work is now about to start.

«We are very happy and grateful for the initiative to rebuild these structures. Otherwise the works would have been held up by lack of funds and bureaucracy,» said Jiwan Kumar Shrestha, member of the management committee of Dolakha Bhimeshwor Temple.
Dolakha holds an important position in Nepal’s history. The settlement used to be a stage on the ancient trade route between Nepal, India and Tibet, while its temples have always attracted devotees from near and far, creating jobs and fuelling economic activity.

«They stopped coming after the quake,» a local leader laments. «The rebuilding of these temples will be instrumental in driving religious tourism in this area again.»

Thousands of Nepalese survivors of the devastating earthquake are still living in temporary shelters and camps nearly one year after the disaster. More than 500,000 homes and over 8,300 schools were affected by the earthquake.

With national and international organisations eager to help in the rebuilding process, the Housing Recovery and Reconstruction Platform (HRRP) was formed in January 2016 to help coordinate commitments. Transitioning from the response to recovery phase, the institution is co-led by UN-Habitat and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in support of Nepal’s government.

«The idea was to set up a platform to deal with challenges of housing reconstruction,» says Jennifer Duyne Barenstein, a Swiss expert in housing reconstruction seconded by the SDC to the HRRP and currently its team leader. «On the one hand, we are continuing to monitor the reconstruction activities in the 14 most affected districts and at the same time, we are providing technical guidance to international and national partner organisations and the National Reconstruction Authority.»

The HRRP supports government authorities in coordination, strategic planning, training, developing technical guidelines and facilitating cooperation with the national and international organisations, the private sector and public associations involved in recovery and reconstruction.

«You have here so many international organisations and local NGOs ready to support reconstruction. We want to make sure that reconstruction is well coordinated, and that the aid provided by the government and the external partners reaches all affected areas in a transparent and equitable way,»  says Ms Barenstein. Of the utmost importance is to eliminate any duplication of services.

About 60 organisations, including the SDC, are now associated with the HRRP, which has set up a large network of offices with coordinators and information managers in all 14 districts concerned. «The existence of the platform has made coordination and communication much easier,»  says Bhisma Bhusal, co-spokesman of the National Reconstruction Authority.