Situation update 8 months after the earthquakes
ACTED began its operation in Nepal two days after the 7.8 Richter scale earthquake which hit Nepal on April 25th, 2015. Since, ACTED team in Nepal has provided humanitarian assistance across seven earthquake-affected districts of the country. Since the onset of the disaster, ACTED has been providing shelters and non-food items, food and hygiene kits, and have been working at rehabilitating water points and emergency latrines. Along with that, households have participated in communal work through cash for work activities and livelihood inputs. Targeting shelters, ACTED has provided them with temporary and permanent shelter, tarpaulins, fixing tool kits, blankets, solar lamps, shelter informational materials and masons training on “build back safer techniques”.
Tackling vulnerability in strong-affected districts
ACTED’s needs assessments highlighted strong gaps in the response and high needs in terms of shelters in Dolakha District, one of the most affected districts of Nepal, being at the epicenter of the second earthquake (East of the country). 177 people lost their lives and almost 50,000 houses were completely damaged. The monsoon season had already weakened their emergency shelter, and households were worried that the winter season would bring even more challenges.
Shelters to support vulnerable communities
ACTED and Shelterbox fulfilled the essential shelter needs of over 3,600 earthquake-affected households of Dolakha district. The communities targeted by this project had lost their homes and sometimes their loved ones. With the harsh winter season approaching, it was crucial to provide them with the means to erect more resistant shelters to protect them from the cold and improve their quality of life.
Shelterbox had already supported the emergency phase, by giving ACTED tarpaulins sheets to be distributed, which benefitted over 4,700 households. Following this, ACTED and Shelterbox decided to partner and to develop a project to bring shelter assistance in 4 Village District Committees of Dolakha District. Beneficiaries were given iron sheets (CGIs), toolkits, fixing kits, solar lamps, blankets and raincoats. In addition to the tool kits, basic informational material on “build back safer” techniques was distributed to each households.
In order to ensure that people build their shelter in a safer manner, the project will continue to include technical assistance. Indeed, each household will receive support from a trained mason and the most vulnerable ones, for example those without an able-bodied person, will also receive a cash grant, allowing them to pay for unskilled labour to build their shelter.
To support the long-term reconstruction of the country, ACTED’s technical staffs are currently attending training on Earthquake Resistant Construction Technology and will soon conduct trainings to masons.
The Training of Trainers (ToT) on “Earthquake Resistant Building Construction Technology” is organized under a USAID funded project called “Baliyo Ghar”, which means “Strong House” in Nepalese. The project aims at training local masons, carpenters, engineers and affected homeowners. The objective of the ToT is to provide participants with a clear and concise framework of earthquake resistant construction techniques for them to further pass on this knowledge to local masons. The training includes earthquake basics, site selection and building configuration, quality assurance, construction of earthquake-resistant buildings and curricula for mason training. The trainers also plan to foster exchange of good practices between masons.