However, They Survived

Habitat for Humanity Nepal staff along with volunteers from various places like Nepal Scouts, Nepal Academy of Tourism & Hotel Management (NATHM) College, Rotary Club (Lalitpur District Chapter) and others had been to Bungamati, Lalitpur for the purpose of removing rubbles from few areas, in and around the capital, which have faced the most devastation by the 7.8 Richter scale earthquake that befell Nepal on 25^th April 2015.

Rubble removal is the first step of a lot of other different activities Habitat for Humanity Nepal has in the pipeline as its Disaster Response (DR).

       Ashok Maharjan

Dhokaasi Sata: Tole, Bungamati, Lalitpur, Nepal

47 year old Ashok had his 4 storey house come down due to the 7.8 Richter scale earthquake that hit the capital on Saturday, 25^th April 2015. However, he was lucky enough to not have any of the 9 members: his mother, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister-in-law, 2 nephews including himself inside the house when it came crumbling down. It was a 45-46 yr old house.

They’re currently taking shelter under a tent with clothing and food being additional problems.

He says he, among his family, is having difficulty breathing and ENT (Ear Nose Throat) problems due to the dust and also fever during the night as he engages himself the whole day in clearing the rubble where his house once stood.

        Krishna Maharjan

Laachhi Tole, Bungamati, Lalitpur, Nepal

Made after the devastating earthquake of 1990 BS, Krishna’s house is nothing but rubble now. With 6 members: mother, wife, son, brother, grandfather and himself residing in the house, during the earthquake it was his brother along with grandfather and some other relatives who were inside the house. Although his brother seems to have sustained back and feet problems his grandfather is absolutely fine. He doesn’t have the slightest of scratch!

Just like the most of the survivors, they’re also staying in a tent. All the rubble around, which creates dust, is bringing about cough problems to them too.

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The Nepal Earthquake 2015

25^th April 2015, Saturday, suddenly became a day to remember in the Nepalese history on 11:56 am. A rocking magnitude of 7.8 Richter scale hit Nepal bringing down most of its cultural heritage which were in the core areas of major cities like Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. The number of lives lost till now has been recorded as 8020 (source: www.ekantipur.com) and still counting, with an expectation of it to go even higher in the days to come.

Although the loss of thousands of lives in itself is sad, the loss of the cultural heritages, some listed in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage, is equally depressing. The country is not only in bereavement due to the loss of lives but the difficulty most will face now due to the destruction of those heritages which served as a means of livelihood for a lot and source of revenue for the nation as it played a crucial role in Nepal’s tourism sector.

However, the Nepalese aren’t backing down. Everyone, from the old to the kids, are helping out with whatever resources they have with them. Such is the spirit of the Gurkhas, the people from the land of the Himalayas.

And in this spirit, the Habitat for Humanity International Nepal Disaster Response (DR) Team along with people from volunteer organizations like Nepal Scouts, students from NATHM College and from other varied sectors have come together to enforce their spirits with whatever resources we have at hand.

We have removed most of the rubble in the Harisiddhi area of Lalitpur, one of the most hit areas of the district and plan to move ahead with rubble removal at other areas of need.

HFH - Nepal staff along with volunteers clearing rubble 

at Nibha of Harisiddhi in Lalitpur district

Volunteers passing the collected rubble in trays to speed up work

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