By Freema Davis | Executive Director
REPORT FROM NEPAL - APRIL 25th 2016
One year later, what is really happening in Nepal?
Even after one year of the devastating earlthquake most of the people affected by the eathquake are still living below the subsistence level--deprived of proper shelter, food, water, sanitation, health and education facilities.
On the 28th of March, Nepal experienced a sand storm that was so strong and damaging that many earthquake victims lost their skimpy shelters– leaving even thousands more homeless again! Despite its efforts the government has been unable to provide sufficient support to help most of the victims. Entire villages are in need of food, shelter and medical care. Global Family Village-Nepal and its partners HimRights and Chhatrapati Free Clinic (CFC) have joined together to help provide medical care, community empowerment and psychosocial support to underserved areas. We believe that this collaborative approach is strengthening and increasing our impact, effectiveness and hopefully, the sustainability of our efforts.
HimRights has been advocating for the rights of the victims to receive the compensation that is due to them by the government reconstruction policy. The reconstruction authority has just begun to build local mechanisms to distribute grants and loans to the victims, as promised by the government. This will take years. It is most likely that without outside help the earthquake survivors will have to live through another dangerous Monsoon season, and wait till next October to rebuild their homes.
HimRights and CFC also contribute to the distribution of aid to earthquake victims whenever and wherever possible. Just last week, HimRights distributed blankets to 74 senior citizens, 87 single women, 20 disabled and 24 others who are also earthquake-affected people in Godavari. Earlier, they distributed bamboo and zinc roofs to 7 families of the same ward. Paharis and Nagarkotis are one of the most marginalized groups in this community who depend on bamboo crafts for livelihood and for their shelters.
Chhatrapati Free Clinic has continually supported the medical needs of the earthquake victims and impoverished villages through health camps and distribution of medicines. Since the earthquake they were also instrumental in distributing zinc roofing material to over 1,200 families. They are seeking funding to 'cover' as many families as possible before the monsoons arrive in 2 months.
To help alleviate the damage to children who are too young to comprehend what is happening, Global Family Village-Nepal is continuing to reprint and distribute the book Gita and Shyam, The Day the Earth Shook. It is an (all Nepali) coloring book with a guide for parents and teachers to help young children who have experienced the earthquake to understand and cope with their feelings. (The original English version was funded by the National Child Trauma Stress Network (NCTSN) To date, with the help of our partners, 71,400 books have been distributed to children in the hardest hit areas.
The book distribution and training for teachers is also being conducted in coordination with the project sites of Chhatrapati Clinic and the Child-friendly Safe Spaces of Him Rights. We are all very pleased to be working together. We helped build the preschool in Bungamati, including teacher training! But the local school and others, remains unbuilt or partially built and vulnerable to the elements.
Please join us as we help those that need shelter and support, NOW before the onslaught of the Monsoons.
GLOBALGIVING WILL BE MATCHING ALL DONATIONS ON APRIL 25TH, ONLY. Donations will be matched as long as the funding lasts, so please enter your support starting at 9 am, EST.
Thank you very much!
Anjana Sakya, HIMRIGHTS
Bijaya Mali, CHHATRAPATI FREE CLINIC
Kishor Shrestha, GLOBAL FAMILY VILLAGE-NEPAL
Freema Davis, GLOBAL FAMILY VILLAGE
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