Nurturing hope to rebuild
When the ground started shaking and swaying violently that late Saturday morning on April 2015, Rudra Kumari, 38, was busy harvesting crops in her field.
Being in an open space, she knew she was safe, but what made her panic was the immediate thought of her little boy who was most probably at home because it was an off day for school. Immediately after the earthquake, she anxiously ran towards her home.
She was relieved when she saw that her son was a little shaken but alive and safe, standing outside their crumbled house.
"My son later explained to me that he was watching television when the earthquake started and immediately ran outside the house, sensing that something was not right. When he saw our neighbor's house collapsing, he quickly ran into an open field away from house. Seconds later, our house also tumbled," Rudra Kumari recalls.
The family lost their entire house, stored food grains, clothing and other belongings, but were relieved to have every family member safe.
"The little money my husband made by driving a car has not been enough to sustain our family. On top of that, having to construct a new shelter and arrange everything again was difficult for us, and it still is," she expresses the struggle.
The family managed to purchase a few corrugated iron sheets using a little loan they managed to get and erected a temporary shelter.
"We cleared the debt with much difficulty and staying in this makeshift shelter is just not a long-term solution for us," Rudra Kumari says.
In order to support vulnerable families to rebuild their houses and, in the long run, their senses of safety, World Vision Nepal Earthquake Response (WV-NER) has been distributing corrugated iron sheets and shelter toolkits in affected districts including Sindhupalchowk.
With the support of donors such as Aktion Deutschland Hilft (ADH) corrugated iron sheets were distributed to around 4,000 households.
Rudra, a beneficiary in the distribution shared, “This support has motivated us to re-construct a permanent shelter."
Among some elderly beneficiaries Nauli Maya, 62, and her husband, lost everything during the devastating earthquake. They recall how they lost the entire house where their children were born and had grown older in.
Since then the couple have been living in a makeshift shelter.
“We bought very thin iron sheets before to construct our first shelter, but it is already rusting and cannot be used to make a more durable house. These iron sheets we received from World Vision are very strong, and we will use them to make our new house," Nauli Maya said enthusiastically.
One of the worst natural disasters that has ever hit Nepal, the earthquake on 25 April 2015 left so many Nepalese homeless, especially in remote villages. Today, ten months after the catastrophe, families are still struggling to resume normal everyday lives. Nevertheless, the sense of hope to recover is strong, and World Vision is committed to support these families.
By Ankush Chalise, Communications Officer, Nepal Earthquake Response