SIRANGAUN, Nepal/GENEVA
17.01.2018.
Homes and lives rebuilt after the devastating earthquake in 2015
Lutheran World Information (LWI).
Building her own house was Kali Kamini’s dream. The woman is known as the village grandmother, or “grandma”, in Nepal – and her dream has come true, thanks to the Lutheran World Federation and a charity led by local women.
Kamini, an 80-year-old woman with a hunched back, lost her home in the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal on 25 April 2015. At that time nearly 9,000 people died and a further around 22,000 were injured.
This was the worst natural disaster to strike the country since 1934.
A restored sense of hope
Grandmother Kali Kamini with her goats. Photo: LWF/U. Pokharel
In the village of Sirangaun (in the Sindhulimadi area of the Jugal rural municipality), located an eight-hour drive from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, grandmother Kamini told her story to LWF representatives.
“Even though the money was provided – 300,000 Nepalese rupees (NPR) – it was a difficult task for me to find builders and provide food for them. In any case, it has been possible thanks to the support precisely from ‘Gramin Mahila Shrijanashil Pariwar’ (GMSP) and the LWF,” said Kali Kamini (80), a survivor of the Nepal earthquake.
(GMSP is a women-led organization founded by a local woman from the Sindhulimadi area in Nepal in 1993.)
It was not enough that the grandmother’s family was chosen as one of the recipients of shelter. She needed someone who could help rebuild the house. That is why the LWF in Nepal, during a builder training programme, encouraged local builders to make building the woman’s house a priority.
So Palsang Lama (33), Kali’s neighbour and relative, offered his help in rebuilding the house. Lama coordinated the builders and the delivery of building materials.
As a result of the joint effort, the octogenarian could finally build her house.
The new houses in the village of Sirangaun, which was largely destroyed during the earthquake. Photo: LWF/U. Pokharel
The house restored her sense of hope. Kali has been able to regain her life. She wakes up in the morning, tidies her new house, prepares feed for her goats and brings water from the nearby spring – and then takes care of her family.
“At last my daily life has been restored; I feel the way I did back then before the earthquake, when I went every evening to my neighbour’s house for a chat,” she replied.
The earthquake destroys lives and livelihoods
The grandmother was alone in her house when the earthquake began. It seemed as if the floor was disappearing in front of her. Confused at first, she later managed to get out, staying together with her neighbours under the open sky for almost a week and living under a tarpaulin cover, trying to cope with weaker aftershocks.
Her house was destroyed. “It was like a bomb explosion,” she recalled.
She had been overcome by anxiety, and her fear grew. Life seemed hopeless. Her only support was her husband Maila, who is 70 years old. Her daughter lives in another village in this area. To reach her home, almost five hours are needed.
After the earthquake, the LWF in Nepal reached the grandmother’s village, delivering food, tarpaulin covers and other basic necessities. They provided corrugated iron sheets to build temporary shelters. The elderly couple stayed under a tarpaulin cover for several months, until they moved into a temporary shelter.
“Life under the tarpaulin cover and the corrugated iron sheets was the worst of my life,” she recalled.
An LWF emergency response team in a Nepalese village after the earthquake. In this disaster, many houses in the poor districts were completely destroyed. Photo: LWF/Kästner
Having been involved in the aftermath of the earthquake for a year and a half, the LWF in Nepal began providing technical and other kinds of services to help 142 households in the village rebuild their homes. Fortunately, the grandmother was among the chosen recipients of support.
Today the grandmother is often visited by her grandchildren from the village of Pantang, and this brings her great joy.
“After my new house was built, they started visiting us more often. Now they have a safe place to stay. When my grandchildren visit me, it makes me feel special; my hope and confidence in life grow,” she concluded.
Story and photos by Umesh Pokharel. Prepared from LWF News.