(NEPAL) If you drive three hours northeast from Kathmandu, Nepal and then take a four-wheel-drive vehicle on rugged dirt paths for an additional hour and a half deep into the mountains of Nuwekot, you will arrive in the municipality of Manakamana where World Renew has been working in response to the Nepal earthquake.
If you drive three hours northeast from Kathmandu, Nepal and then take a four-wheel-drive vehicle on rugged dirt paths for an additional hour and a half deep into the mountains of Nuwekot, you will arrive in the municipality of Manakamana where World Renew has been working in response to the Nepal earthquake.
Amidst the terraced rice fields, wood-framed shelters, wandering goats and crowing roosters of the nine wards of Manakamana, one tree stands out from all the rest. It is taller than any other, with a trunk that would take several adults to reach around. This tree marks the boundary between Wards 2 and 3, and is also the location of Potimaya Tamang’s new home.
Potimaya and her husband, Sher Bahadur, live in Ward 3 and, similar to this old tree, they have very deep roots in the community. Potimaya has lived her whole life in this village as have her parents and grandparents before her.
When she and Sher were married, they built a small home behind this tree and raised three children there. The tree out front was a key part of this life as it was often use as a gathering place for community meetings.
World Renew has plans to build at least 200 permanent homes for families like Potimaya’s, but must wait for the government to approve designs. Once a design has been found, World Renew will hire and train teams of local men and women to do the construction.
By village standards, Potimaya and Sher were quite prosperous. They had a small farm where they grew rice and other vegetables. They even hired laborers to help them harvest. Over time, one son and one daughter each got married and started their own families in the village. Potimaya says that she was quite happy.
On April 25, however, all that changed.
It was around noon and everyone was outside when the earth began to shake. Potimaya and Sher saw their house crack and crumble and several other homes in the village completely collapse.
Potimaya recalls that there was screaming and crying and no one felt safe. After several aftershocks, people knew that they could no longer stay in their damaged homes. They looked for the safest place they could find, and decided upon the newly erected school building not far from their village.
Together with their neighbors, Potimaya’s family lived in that school for the next month. They received some urgently-needed emergency food and hygiene supplies from World Renew but were unsure how they would get on with their life.
In late May, things got even worse. The government told them that the school would soon reopen and all of the families living in the building would have to leave the school immediately.
With the coming monsoon season fast approaching, this was not good news. The government had promised to provide assistance to earthquake survivors, but so far they had only given each family 7,000 rupees (about $70) for food. It was not enough to rebuild a home.
Potimaya, Sher and their unmarried daughter decided to use some of their savings to buy a tarp. They set it up under the large tree in their yard and lived there until they could repair their home.
“We had laborers who helped us in our field and we had to pay them something,” Potimaya recalls about that time. “I used to cook food in the damaged house and feed it to them outside as payment. I never felt safe there.”
If you visit Potimaya today, however, she will proudly show you the temporary home she and her husband have made of galvanized iron sheeting. She explained that World Renew provided her family with 16 sheets of iron sheeting and she and her husband used those to build the roof of this home.
That was in July. In August, the Nepalese government provided each family with 15,000 rupees (about $150) to use for temporary shelter. It was enough for Potimaya and her husband to close in the sides of the house, which kept them dry during the rainiest part of the monsoon season.
As winter approaches, the closed in shelter will provide some protection from the cold nights. Blankets provided by World Renew will also help to keep them warm until a new, warmer home can be built.
World Renew has plans to build at least 200 permanent homes for families like Potimaya’s, but must wait for the government to approve designs before they can start. Once a design has been found, World Renew will hire and train teams of local men and women to do the construction.
For now, Potimaya is grateful to at least be in a home where she can continue to welcome people to gather under the tree in her yard.
“I’m so thankful to World Renew for everything,” Potimaya said.
This is the second of a series of stories marking the six-month anniversary of the devasting earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25, 2015. Find the first story of this series here.