In the aftermath of the earthquakes that struck Nepal on 25th April and 12th May 2015, landslides continue to be major threat to the safety of the population. With the onset of the monsoon rains, a growing number of people has become displaced, as they have left their villages in the mountains for safer places. Cordaid provides shelter and income generating support, while considering more permanent solutions together with the people affected.
The earthquakes that ravaged 11 Nepali districts in April and May are over, but millions of people have lost their homes, livestock and source of income. Many of them are living in temporary IDP camps and rely on aid agencies for food, clean drinking water and education for their children. Currently, there are about 500 displacement sites hosting over 21,000 households (116,000 persons approximately). Now the monsoon rains have begun to fall, even more people are leaving their home villages in the mountains, in order to escape landslides and avalanches caused by the swelling water.
One of the IDPs is Dhan Bahadur Tamang (62): “God knows when we will go back to our home, our village. I am afraid that we cannot ever go back, because the mountains are already cracked and this monsoon will definitely cause landslides, consequently sweeping away all our dreams and hope.”
Relief for IDPs in Rasuwa
With more and more IDPs coming to the lower-lying areas of Nepal, new solutions for their housing have to be found. In the district of Rasuwa, where Cordaid is working with the two communities of Lahrepauwa and Daibung, three new IDP camps have been built on land leased from private landlords. A total of 1640 people are now occupying the three sites. Cordaid and local partners Lumanti and Parivartan provide them with building materials, so they can construct temporary housing. In addition, water access points, toilets and bathing areas, tent schools and other camp facilities are being installed.
Apart from shelter, the IDPs who lost their means of income want to start making their own livelihoods again. That is why Cordaid is planning to lease a site near the current camps for setting up a vocational training center, where youth can learn practical skills such as masonry, carpentry, knitting and weaving, while making use of local resources. Products from the center will be sold at nearby markets for income support to IDP families. Also, an agro-farm will be established nearby the vocational training center, where IDP families will be engaged in processing and production.
According to the Government, the IDP camps will be open for at least 12 months, which might be extended depending on the scale of hazard in this monsoon. The resettlement process is expected to begin after monsoon assessments.
Read the story of Manmaya Tamang
Manmaya Tamang, 64 years old from Haku village, had 5 cows, 15 Goats and 30 chickens before the earthquake struck. April 25th shattered her family’s dreams. Manmaya was cooking meals when her stone-mud house collapsed. She managed to escape and luckily, all her family members were outside at that moment. Unfortunately, her neighbors’ house was reduced to dust in a second and 5 people were buried in front of their eyes. “My livestock was killed and some of them were trapped in landslides. My food stock went into debris and all I saw was dust of mudslides everywhere,” Manmaya says. Her family, along with her pregnant daughter-in-law, arrived in the Nuwakot camp after 3 days walking. They found a sack of corn from a destroyed house on the way, and managed to survive on it for 3 days. Currently in Haku camp, Manmaya’s daughter-in-law has just given birth safely.
Manmaya supports her family by weaving bamboo baskets. She gets bamboo from the nearby jungle in Daibung, so she has to share 50% of the profit of her baskets with the bamboo owner. Unfortunately, sales are slow: “I have this skill to make bamboo baskets, but there is no market to sell them. I have to wait for customers to buy them for many days and weeks,” she states.
“MY LIVESTOCK WAS KILLED AND SOME OF THEM WERE TRAPPED IN LANDSLIDES. MY FOOD STOCK WENT INTO DEBRIS."
Manmaya’s son Bombahadur, a man in his early 30s, says: “If I had milking cows, then we could make good profit from selling milk, as Daibung/Lahreapauwa is a potential hub for the milk market.” He adds: “Haku and Dandagau people have good skills in vegetable production, livestock and handcrafts like basket weaving. Before the earthquake, our life was good in Haku and we were busy all year round living in harmony. Camp life inside a little tent is suffocating for us and without work, life is more stressful here.” If they cannot get further work, Bombahadur and his colleagues from the camp plan to go to India to work as shepherds and cowboys in the range of Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh villages (North India) “where many Nepalese are working, with horrific stories behind them.”