In the hours following the Nepal earthquake, Bharat Man Shrestha had little time to focus on his own fears. His parents in the village of Chautara, three hours from Kathmandu, were on the phone begging him to come home.
Most of the houses in the village, including his parent’s home, had collapsed. One of his aunts was dead.
But even as his parents kept pleading, Shrestha had no way to get back to his hometown. Public transportation was sporadic and he could not find anyone who would take him home.
Finally after more than 48 hours, he says, he managed to convince a cousin to drive him on his scooter. When he reached his village, people were in a state of shock, he says, as 60 villagers had been killed by the quake.
“People are still completely traumatized,” he said over the phone yesterday. “They have no idea what to do next, it has been a terrifying week.”
So Shrestha, a UN Development Programme officer who works on human rights and LGBTi issues, decided he had to do something. Working with village authorities, Shrestha along with youth from the local football club began to help rescue survivors, carry the injured to medical camps, and distribute supplies.
Shrestha’s story reflects the efforts of individuals across the country who have taken the lead in supporting their towns and villages while awaiting relief from the government and the international community. The delivery of that aid has been hampered initially by debris that impeded access, and heavy rainfall in some areas.
In Kavrepalanchok district, Madan Mangrati, President of the District Micro Entrepreneurs' Groups Association (DMEGA), says half of the houses in his town have collapsed; his own home suffered major cracks.
Mangrati took it upon himself to immediately move families to open spaces. He says, the only strong structure in town was a shoe-factory set up with support from the Micro Enterprise Development Programme (MEDEP), a poverty alleviation initiative of the government of Nepal and UNDP. It has now been turned into a temporary shelter for seven families.
“After I helped people in my community settle in temporary shelters, I started inquiring about other micro entrepreneurs. All the micro entrepreneurs are from very poor backgrounds, struggling to make it after receiving training through the micro enterprise programme,” Mangrati says. “Therefore, most of our members have houses made of clay and stone with corrugated sheet or tile roofs, many of which were destroyed.”
Mangrati adds his is one of the most severely affected districts. Not only have homes been destroyed, several people were also killed when homes collapsed. Of the 1,362 Micro Entrepreneurs supported by MEDEP 90 per cent have lost their homes and half of them have also lost their livelihoods, he says.
Rebuilding those homes, livelihoods and hopes is going to be tough, he adds. “Many of us were struggling to come out of the vicious circle of poverty. Now we have been pushed into another circle of grinding poverty.”
To help the micro-entrepreneurs, UNDP is allocating resources so that they can rapidly restore their businesses.
Maina Danuwar of Baluwa in Khanpur, was among 11 other families of the indigenous Danuwar community whose homes were so badly damaged in the quake that they were no longer fit for living.
The 11 families now live in a tunnel like tent made of plastic sheeting taken from makeshift greenhouses that were being used for tomato farming. Five days later strong winds blew the plastic tent down, and they had to reconstruct it. Now Danuwar and other members of her community are trying to cobble together huts using corrugated sheets and other materials they can use from their destroyed homes.
"Seven days after the earthquake, we received bags of rice and dal, two packets of noodles and a packet of salt,” said Danuwar. “But what we require most are tents, which we haven't received yet." Danuwar too is a micro entrepreneur supported by MEDEP. She and 10 other women, were trained to produce off-seasonal vegetables using plastic tunnels. Now, those plastic tunnels serve as temporary shelters.
"Luckily our crops are not destroyed and this is not harvest time,” says Danuwar. “But setting up homes is the greatest challenge for us."
Frustrated by the slow response of the government and other relief organizations, Maina says she wishes that a financial institution would provide them with loans to rebuild their homes. “With returns from what our farms produce, I will be able to pay back the loan in five to six years," she says.
Back in Chautara, population about 17,000, UNDP’s Bharat Man Shrestha too says proper shelter is what his village needs most.
“For now we need tents to shelter the elderly and children,” he says.
“That is what we need most.” At the moment, Shrestha says, people are sharing tents, and in one case there are 15 families in a tent.
While tents are the immediate need, Shrestha’s big fear is the outbreak of an epidemic.
“A big issue is hygiene and sanitation, people are defecating in the open, it is raining and the ground is muddy, with no proper water supply we have at times had to rely on rain water, gathering it and then boiling it to make it drinkable,” he says. “There is a need for water purifiers, soap sanitizers, and food.”
Fearing a shortage of food people are hoarding and hiding it, Shrestha adds, as it is hard to get supplies. Many others are picking through their wrecked homes trying to get at food and other necessities buried under rubble.
But with access roads being cleared across affected areas and debris management being put into motion, relief supplies including tents are expected to get through soon to villages such as Chautara.