Rebuilding Fund for Rural Dalit Women of Nepal

Your immediate and generous support has saved lives and reduced human suffering. Thank you!

Also a great big thank you to the Global Giving Foundation for a $10,000 donation for general relief work--when it mattered most!

Because of all of you, our Nepal partner, ADWAN, could respond quickly to people’s urgent needs in our project area. In 10 out of 11 communities, ADWAN was the only source of emergency relief. Large relief organizations have yet to show up. 

“I will never forget the day ADWAN arrived with food and relief aid. We cannot imagine the situation if we hadn’t received support from them. Thank you ADWAN for your support in this difficult time!”

Bal Maya is just one of the 760 women from our Gorkha women’s groups left homeless by the earthquakes. People who owned little before lost everything, including the stored grain they depend on for survival.

Villagers now live under the most difficult conditions: tents, tarps and recycled materials barely keep them dry during the unusually harsh weather. Cooking, eating, keeping clean and sleeping is a struggle. And in addition, the aftershocks make for constant high levels of anxiety.

While everyone is traumatized, acts of kindness and compassion abounds. People who have little, often share with those who have nothing. There is still hope--and hugs and smiles

Delievered by ADWAN, EDWON has funded the following aid:

Number of Villagers Served

• 4,000 + mostly women and children

Where

• Communities in Gorkha District 12-15 miles from the epicenter

Aid Delivered

• Several thousand kilos of food: rice, potatoes, lentils and oil
• Hundres of other items: tents, blankets, sleeping mats, and mosquito nets i
• 150 solar lanterns to help keep women and girls safe at night (donated by partner organization HIO, Thank you!)

On its Way

• Additional 400 solar lanterns 
• 140 latrines to prevent spread of disease (donated by partner organization, Nidan, Thank you!)

WHAT IS NEXT?

Reconstruction and recovery requires enormous resources, so collaboration with partners is crucial. ADWAN and EDWON are engaged in building partnerships with organizations and foundations both in and outside Nepal to help fund the massive rebuilding and recovery.

We are focusing our efforts in three areas: temporary homes, livelihoods and schools.

Temporary Homes

Our highest priority is constructing temporary shelters strong enough to withstand the monsoon. Tents and tarps are insufficient during heavy downpour. Building permanent homes must wait until the monsoon has ended in August/September. 

Temporary shelters will be constructed quickly and with recycled and newmaterials. ADWAN is mobilizing our women’s groups to collaborate with local skilled workers in building temporary shelters for theri communities over the next few months--the target is 1400 shelters.

Livelihoods  

Farmland, livestock, food grain and seed corn is damaged or lost. In collaboration with ADWAN and with input from our women groups we will be working on ways to restore livelihoods.

Schools

Most schools (7) were damaged or destroyed. ADWAN team members, teachers and volunteers have already built temporary schools in some communities. But to function well, the schools need additional whiteboards and furniture.

The View from a Village: Balmaya's Story

-Happy to be Alive, Worried about the Future-

Balmaya remembers standing in front of her garden when the entire house and ground started shaking and quavering. She fell unconscious, but thankfully woke up to see that her entire family was unharmed! When the quaking stopped, this family and most other villagers were homeless. And with her stored food buried under rubble, Balmaya didn’t know how to feed her family.

A mother of five, married to a sick man, Balmaya has been an active member of a women’s group for ten years.

The first few days, she explains, villagers waited for government aid; it was rumored that supplies had arrived at the district headquarters. Yet, they received nothing. She and others think it is because they are Dalits, “We are never a priority! “, she says.

A few days later, it was ADWAN that arrived with urgently needed rice, lentils, blankets, tents, and other items.

"I will never forget the day ADWAN arrived with food and relief aid in my village. We can't imagine the situation if we hadn't received support from ADWAN. Thank you ADWAN for your support in this difficult time" - Balmaya

Today, the family lives in a shelter made of straw, tarp, and debris, and Bal Maya worries about keeping her family safe during the monsoon. People are pessimistic about delivery of government help for temporary homes-- let alone for permanent ones.

With tears in her eyes she says, “Even though we have survived the earthquakes, our future is so uncertain! Once the aid ration is finished, I will have to borrow money to buy food and medicine.”

Since that horrible day, she has not been herself, Balmaya says. The trauma, the stress and the total destruction make her anxious for the future.

She says that members of her women’s group have met a few times since the earthquake; they plan to resume their activities and to help each other rebuild their lives. They hope ADWAN will be there for them.