USAID food helps quake victims get through the monsoon season.
CHAUTARA, NEPAL – Against the backdrop of misty mountains and the rubble that used to be a bustling town perched on the side of a hill, an orderly queue is forming. Men on one side, women on the other.
There is a cheerful atmosphere in Purano Bazar, a former village market. Most people turned up early, some after walking a few hours to get here - across trails that were damaged by the 25 April earthquake. The men make jokes, the women huddle together, and the children are excited. But this is no village fete. The people of Chautara, in Sindhupulchowk District, Nepal are waiting for badly needed food, delivered by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and donated by USAID.
Twenty-year-old Shreitha stands in line for her sack of rice, some yellow split peas, oil and Plumpy’Doz, an especially nutritious food for her young son, Sunder. He clings to her neck, and laughs every time his mother does. But like many here, hers is a nervous laugh that hides her worry. Almost all of the 561 households represented today lost homes, livelihoods, food stocks. Some also lost crops and livestock. Shreitha is also worried about her husband, who is at home, sick with cancer.
“The food I am collecting today will help my family get through the monsoon,” she says. “It will allow me to save some of the income I earn as a labourer. If I am lucky, I will have enough for the medicine my husband needs.”
Eight-year-old Nisan Lama and his 10-year-old sister Nisa are also waiting, but not just for food. They are looking forward to seeing their parents again. They will be waiting a long time however, as their mother and father are working abroad until October, in order to send money home. In the meantime, their staunch looking grandfather, who stands behind them with his arms folded, says he will use the food to offset the bills and hopefully put some money aside to repair the family home, damaged by the 12 May powerful aftershock that tore through Chautara.
"All our maize, all our rice is gone. We are very worried about what will happen when this food runs out."
The same goes for elderly sisters Chari Maya and Susa Maya, who have walked half an hour to be here today. “It’s not easy to walk when you are this old,” they joke. “But we have no choice.” Both women look after their husbands, who are at home. Their food stock – more than a ton of rice - was lost in the earthquake. “All our maize, all our rice is gone. We are very worried about what will happen when this food runs out.”
The food they are receiving today is part of a USAID delivery of 1,530 tonnes of rice and pulses, donated by the Government of the United States and distributed by WFP as part of the emergency response to the earthquake.
So far, WFP has provided assistance to more than 2 million people in Nepal, distributing 12,000 metric tons of food and nutrition products, as well as cash assistance. Emergency food rations like those received by the people in Purano Bazar are designed to last one month. Each ration contains 30 kilogrammes of rice, five kilogrammes of yellow split peas and 900 ml of cooking oil. Children, breastfeeding and pregnant women also receive Plumpy’Doz.