Sleeping better under new tarpaulins

Sujita, 9, is still terrified when she thinks about the event after the earthquake. At one point she almost ran out of tears as she said, “I was very afraid then,” and then she stopped for some time. What was it that she was so afraid of and why?

She was in her neighbor’s house when the earthquake struck. She was able to run out but sadly she stood there and witnessed the unbearable sight of her house collapsing. She could see the walls of her house come down and the dust all over, a brown cloud rising up.

With the house no longer livable, and with the frequent aftershocks, she and her family decided to stay in the field nearby.

“While we slept outside it was very hard to see our house standing there in the rubble, what was worse was that it was raining and cold too and we had to stay out.”

For two nights she and her family had nothing to use as a roof, so they literally stayed out in the open. After that, they bought a simple tarpaulin to cover them but it didn’t last very long.

Dhanmaya, Sujita’s mother, was worried about how her family would live in such conditions and for how long, but her worry eased a bit. Not long after that, World Vision brought shelter and non-food items to Sujita’s village.

Sujita says that she feels very safe under the tarpaulin, as it is big and strong. Her parents have moved few beds under it so that they can sleep inside it. Now she and her cousins all sleep in the tent.

“We feel very safe here. In our village we have tiger, bear and snakes and when we were staying in the open for 2 nights, a snake had come near, but we sent it off. However this tent seems to be much safer and I haven’t seen any since then,” she says with a smile.

With the monsoon in Nepal and rain almost every day, Sujita says that the tarpaulin keeps her family comfortable as it has no leaks and it is strong.

“We do not get wet, that is why we have brought our bed here so that we can sleep more comfortably. When I sleep here I can sleep in relief,” she says.

Sujita’s community of Sindhupalchowk is one of the most affected districts where a majority of the houses were damaged leaving people to live out in the open.