Nepal Earthquake Relief and Recovery

Over the last few months, and thanks to your amazing generosity, we’ve been making a big impact supporting Nepal’s recovery from last year’s earthquakes.

Much of our recent focus has been at the Shree Bal Shiksha school where we recently finished building five new permanent classrooms.

This school, which is located in the district of Sindhupalchok, was badly damaged by the earthquakes. As a result its 600 children were being forced to learn in temporary classrooms, and in some cases even inside damaged buildings.

The temporary classrooms were rapidly deteriorating and unfit for purpose. The damaged buildings were unsafe, and the kids were at real risk of injury, or worse.

Support was urgently needed, and so we quickly started work to provide new classrooms. And just last month this work was completed, allowing the children to move into safe, beautiful, new classrooms.

But while providing classrooms is great, it’s not so impactful if the kids then have to sit on the floor during class. So, just last week we also delivered forty new desks and benches to equip the new classrooms.

Yet, our work at the school is still not over. We’ve already vastly improved the facilities at Bal Shiksha, but the school still doesn’t have enough toilets for all the children who attend class. There are many water-borne diseases in Nepal, including cholera, and this means the kids are still at risk of getting seriously ill.

So, we’ll soon be building a new toilet block alongside our new classrooms.

We’re really delighted with this project, firstly because it meets genuine and obvious needs at the school. However, there’s more to it than that.

Having also partnered with schools in Haiti and the Philippines, we know it’s vital to provide all round support if children are to receive an effective education. So, even when we first arrived in Nepal we knew we wanted to provide holistic support for education after the earthquakes.

And, by providing classrooms, school furniture, and now also school toilets, at Bal Shiksha, we’re witnessing that vision become a reality in Nepal.

Thank you so much for making this possible, it really is amazing to look back on how much progress has been made.

While today we’re mostly focused on supporting education we started work in Nepal by providing relief in many important areas.

We arrived in the country just ten days after the first earthquake and provided initial relief which included 6.4 tonnes of food aid for families whose supplies had been contaminated by building rubble.

We also provided emergency shelter and household items, like blankets and cooking pots, to another 540 families who’d lost everything in the earthquakes.

The metal roofing kits we supplied in the early days may be a far cry from the permanent bricks and mortar now being laid at Bal Shiksha school, but in the immediate aftermath of the disaster they gave families a sturdy roof over their heads, and protected them from the monsoon rains.

Yet, we didn’t stop there. We also provided water to over 1,100 people, and it was through this work we first supported the Bal Shiksha school, where we provided a water tank and mains supply.

In those early days it wasn’t possible to start work on permanent classrooms, but we provided almost thirty temporary classrooms that enabled around 1,000 kids to return to school as quickly as possible. We also provided our very first desks and school supplies, and all of this laid the groundwork for our holistic support of Bak Shiksha today.

And because of our ongoing focus on supporting education, and also as a reflection of how far we’ve come, we’ve decided that we’ll soon be retiring this, our general Nepal relief and recovery, project on GlobalGiving.

Moving forward, we’ll continue reporting on our work in Nepal through our dedicated education project. So, please check back there for further updates about how you’re continuing to help us change lives in Nepal.

Once again, and on behalf of over 7,100 Nepalis served, thank you so much for all you’ve given to this project. We celebrate, and praise you for your support.

As always, if you ever have any questions about our work, then please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.

With your incredible support we’re continuing our vital work providing relief, and helping communities to recover, after last year’s earthquakes in Nepal.

And we’re doubly delighted with our progress over the past few months as several of our projects have involved partnerships with amazing local organisations and people.

For example, we’re now getting very close to completing our work helping Sunrise Farm to rebuild. Before the earthquakes Sunrise was a community farm programme that provided training in sustainable agriculture and community development techniques.

It provided facilities for demonstration, training (in sustainable agriculture, agroecology and permaculture) and the distribution of seeds, seedlings, and educational resources.

Over the past 25 years, the farm has welcomed thousands of visitors from Nepal and internationally to observe, learn and volunteer. The farm has also been a marketing hub for Nepal’s rural farmers, selling their products such as honey, pulses and garlic, to help them increase their income. However, the farm’s work was badly disrupted by the earthquakes.

In response we’ve provided technical support, through our in-house engineers and skilled builders, and also general volunteer labour to help the farm rebuild. This work is helping Sunrise to recover and continue its vital work promoting sustainable agriculture and livelihoods across Nepal.

And last month we also worked with a local NGO called Heartbeat to give 100 children relief from the torrential monsoon rains.

Heartbeat’s mission is to help at risk children by helping to meet their urgent needs, and also by providing them with opportunities for education.  In June they asked us for financial and logistical support to provide raincoats for children at the Shree Mahalaxmi school in Dhading district.

In Nepal’s rural areas children often have to walk many miles to school and back each day. The walk is often difficult enough during good weather, but enduring it without protection from the pouring rain is miserable for children. It also increases their chances of getting sick.

So, we were only too happy to help and it was your wonderful donations that made this work possible.  Thank you so much.

Finally, we were also delighted to recently open our Nepal Resource Centre for a set of talks organised by a local cycling club. This event aimed to empower women and girls to get into travelling and adventure by sharing the inspiring stories of others.

One of the speakers was 20 year old Nishma who won a "Nepali Travellers" competition on Facebook to trek around the Jomsom-Muktinath areas, as well as Ghorepani (Annapurnas).

Nishma has this to say about her journey:

"This was the first time I left the Kathmandu valley but i wasn't scared, I was excited. This trip really taught me how to manage my finances, as well as dealing with bad and stressful situations on my own. I made lots of new friends and I would definitely do it again. Next I'm planning to go to Upper Mustang."

One of the organisers of the event, also had this to say:

"In lots of societies people say things like, you are acting like a girl or stop being a girl, yet here we have girls who have achieved more than most men!"

We're delighted to have been able to support this empowering event through the free use of our Resource Centre.  And once again, our ability to provide this service was only possible because of you.

Thanks to you, all of these projects have made a direct impact in their own right. But perhaps more importantly they’ve also supported and empowered local people and local organisations in the process.

And while there’s still a lot of help needed from international organisations like ourselves, it’s only through supporting local action that Nepal’s recovery will become truly sustainable. Thank you so much for making this all possible.

As always, if you ever have any questions about our work and how we use your donations, then please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.

For more updates about our work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVExec on Twitter. You can also email Andy is you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.

Links:

• Find out more about using our Resource Centre for your own event

Last week Nepal marked the anniversary of a devastating earthquake that claimed almost 9,000 lives and destroyed or damaged over 800,000 homes. So, for this project report we wanted to reflect on both the last year, and also on what remains to be done.

We arrived in Nepal just ten days after the first earthquake and, with your support, we quickly set about providing relief.

In the districts of Nuwakot and Sindhupalchok we started by distributing 6.4 tonnes of food aid to survivors.  Water-borne diseases, such as cholera, were also a concern so we provided water tanks and filters for over 1,200 people in the Lamoshangu temporary settlement, and at the Shree Bal Shiksha school in Sindhupalchok.

With so many left homeless providing shelter was crucial, especially with the monsoon rains due just a few months after the earthquakes. So, we also provided shelter materials and household items to protect over 2,100 people from the worst of the weather.

To ensure that children didn’t spend too long out of education we constructed nine Transitional Learning Centres in badly affected areas, and also provided school supplies and furniture.

But while all this work was vital, it was focused on meeting short term needs. We knew that if Nepal were to truly recover from the earthquakes we also needed to commit to long-term reconstruction once the monsoon season had ended.

So, last September we put plans in place to begin the permanent reconstruction of schools in Sindhupalchok district. Sadly, events were to unfold that were to scupper these plans just as they began to take shape.

Just as the rains began to end a border blockade with India led to a national fuel shortage. So, the purchase and transport of materials to rural areas became unviable. Out of necessity we turned our attention to projects in the Kathmandu valley where we repaired four permanent classrooms at the Shree Bhim Adarsha School in Bhaktapur.  

This project was successful but we remained conscious of the unmet long-term needs in more rural areas. We were keen to press on, but the fuel crisis wasn’t the only thing delaying rebuilding.

The government agency resposible for the overall rebuilding process, the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), wasn’t up and running until December 2015, around eight months after the disaster. Once finally established it announced that further reconstruction projects couldn’t start until it published new guidelines. And those guidelines took even more time to complete.

So, while over a year has passed since the earthquake, long-term reconstruction has barely got started. Delays caused by the monsoon, the fuel crisis and the establishment of the NRA means that many survivors are still desparately struggling to recover. 

We know this may come as a bit of a shock to you. After any disaster its easy to assume that rebuilding will move quickly after the initial surge of donations. However, as Nepal shows things are often much more complicated.

And for Nepali earthquake survivors this is where the current danger lies. Disasters always fade from people’s memory over time, and delays in reconstruction can also lead to donor frustration. As a consequence many survivors, through no fault of their own, risk being left behind as the world’s attention moves on.  

Your fantastic generosity has already allowed us help over 6,300 people in Nepal, but so many more still need help, particularly in the long-term.

So, today, we’re asking to you to please consider taking advantage of a very special opportunity to help re-energize the recovery of earthquake survivors in Nepal.

Right now GlobalGiving is matching donations to this project by 100%. By taking advantage, and doubling your donation today, you’ll help ensure that no-one gets left behind.

As always, if you ever have any questions about our work and how we use your donations, then please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Note that donations up to $1,000 are currently being matched via GlobalGiving.org, and up to £1,000 via GlobalGiving.co.uk.

For more updates about our work please like us on Facebook or follow IDVExec on Twitter. You can also email Andy is you would like to be added to our direct mailing list.

Thanks to your amazing generosity IDV’s team in Nepal has continued to work tirelessly in the new year.

And with February now already well underway we wanted to send you some updates about our work to provide relief and recovery in this country devastated by two earthquakes last year.

Over recent months we’ve begun to focus more and more on long-term reconstruction, particularly in relation to schools and classrooms. However, we’re still actively undertaking other types of work and also helping to meet urgent needs, which sadly too often still exist many months after the disasters.

For example, winters are notoriously tough in Nepal, particularly in remote mountainous areas. These are often cut off during winter and areas above 1500m experience fierce chills and snowfall.

And this year winter suffering has increased for two reasons, the earthquakes' impacts and the recent fuel crisis caused by a blockade on the Indian border.

As a result of the earthquakes hundreds of thousands of people are still living in tents or temporary shelter that provide little or no protection from the weather. As a result of the fuel-crisis families have had no access to heating or cooking fuel.

It’s proved a deadly mix and by the end of December New Delhi television were reporting at least 22 survivors dying from the cold.

So, in January we began work to provide winter relief items like warm blankets. To date we’ve undertaken two distributions in Sindhupalchock and these have provided essential warmth and comfort to 230 families. This was only possible thanks to you.

Thankfully the fuel crisis is now showing signs of ending but we’re conscious that the cold is still a problem for many families who can’t afford to buy fuel even when it is available. So, we’re hoping to provide more winter relief and we’re fundraising right here on GlobalGiving to help more survivors like nine year old Jenisha.

But of course, while immediate relief is essential in the short-term what families really need is more substantial shelter from the elements.

So, we’re really delighted to have started working with a new partner to help meet this vital need as well.

This weekend we have a team back in Sindhupalchok to help construct resilient homes for families whose old homes were destroyed in the disaster.

These new homes are transitional in nature but are steel-framed. So, they’re quick to erect in basic form, and make an immediate impact. However, they can also be gradually made more permanent by their new owners over time.

While our partner is providing materials for this project we’re contributing logistical and technical support through our skilled volunteer engineer and larger team. And our team is only available to help this weekend because during the week they’re working on the projects your own donations have funded.

Although our current involvement on this project is short-term, there’s much more work to be done in the future and so we’re keen to develop this new partnership moving forward.

As always, if you ever have any questions about our work and how we use your donations, then please don’t hesitate to email Andy@IDVolunteers.org. I would be delighted to hear from you.

Nothing says Christmas like seeing the joy on kids’ faces as they receive gifts.

So to get you in the mood as the Holiday Season continues we thought we’d send you a “photo report” from our recent Christmas party at the Grace Foundation orphanage in Kirtipur Nepal.

The orphanage is home to 50 kids who have all been through a lot in their short lives. They’ve lost their parents and their homes so we wanted to bring them a little joy this Christmas by throwing them a party.

We provided snacks, fun games and also gifts for all the kids. The weather in Nepal is cold over the winter so we were delighted to be able to provide each of the kids with a lovely warm sleeping bag to curl up in. Thanks so much for making this day possible.

Our work at the orphanage will continue next year and if you’d like to help the kids further then December is a great time to get started. There’s match funding available for any new recurring donations set up during the month. On the US GlobalGiving site your initial donation will receive a 100% match after four months (a limit of $200 applies).  On the UK site the terms are the same but the matching limit is £100.

Recurring donations are particularly amazing, as they allow us to plan ahead more effectively. But we would also be very grateful for any further one time gifts you might be able to make as the Holiday season continues.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and we hope you enjoy the rest of the photos below.