Relief rebuilding to 25 communities in Nepal

Minimaya  is an earthquake survivor from Barpak,Gorkha district, the epicenter of the  devastating earthquake. About 18 years ago when her husband went abroad for a job, she was very happy and had high hopes of living a happy life with their 3 children. However, all her dreams and plans were shattered when Minimaya encountered the harsh reality - her husband’s dead body arrived  after one month of his departure. This left her distraught and she was left all alone to face the responsibility of raising her three children.

Minimaya was uneducated, poor and she had a small house where she lived with her 3 children. She was somehow managing to survive and feed her children. But then, on 25^th April, an earthquake hit the area with an epicenter in Gorkha. This destroyed the only house she had and she along with her children, were left seeking temporary shelter.

 Tewa's  Shadow Barefoot Volunteers - Hamro Tewa Gau Ghar ma programme , has been initiated in 6 affceted districts where 20 volunteers , 3/4 in each district are based in the districts, working with the communities to give support and strengthen the women's agency and be vigilant to reduce VAW and gender based violence, transfer skills and knowledge to make the communities self reliant. Our volunteers based in Barpak,visited the earthquake affected communities,  and provided livelihood training and grants to the most vulnerable and affected survivors. Minimaya was provided with 2 pigs to rear and her eldest daughter, Radhika, was provided tailoring training for 3 months. Radhika could not continue her studies due to lack of financial support but wishes that her 2 younger siblings would get education.

Minimaya still worries on how to rebuild her house as it is very expensive – a trip of sand alone would cost Rs 12,000 which is a huge sum for her. Further, she is still struggling to pay the tuition fees of her 2 children.

However, through pig rearing she expects to triple her profit by selling them after 7 months. She is also hopeful that with training provided by Shadow Barefoot Volunteers of Tewa, Radhika will be able to earn money by using her tailoring skills. She is very thankful to the Volunteers for providing them with a new life with the support and training, which has made them self-dependent.

Our Shadow Barefoot Volunteers have been deployed in 6 earthquake affected disctricts along with the Building Lives Inspiring Hopes , youth psycho social counsellors led by Naagrik Aawaz. They have formed more than  21 women's' groups , helped to dismantle and build homes, toilets, community taps, conducted 17 livelihood trainings , conducted trainings to women on rights based issues to minimize violence against women. More than 2000 people have been oriented about psycho social problrms , scool children have been approached and counselled as well, more than 100 one on one sessions with community members have been conducted  since there is a still a lot of trauma, fear and anxiety prevalent due to the aftermath of the earhquake.

There is a WAVE of CHANGE of self reliance, strength and resilience, and we hope to continue this support to enable communities to be strong and capable, especially the women and children  who have been most affected by disaster.

Radika with her sewing machine during the training                                          Minimaya 

Links:

• http://www.tewa.org.np

• Radhika sewing training (DOC)
• Minimaya (DOC)