Meet the amazing women rebuilding communities in Nepal

After thousands died in the Nepal earthquake last week, survivors are left trying to rebuild their lives in the wake of the devastation. Marion Molteno charts some of the women leading rescue efforts 

 

Sarita Devi*, a 50-year-old widow in the Gorkha district of Nepal has taken on the task of clearing the rubble at the boarding school next door to where she lives. Her own house still stands after the earthquake, but the school was severely damaged. There are gaping holes in the walls so that as you stand outside you can read what’s written on the blackboards.

There is no relief coming into this village yet - the first tranche is going only to 'severely affected' areas and Gorkha has been classified as 'moderately affected'. Devi has no official connection with the school but she is a widow with no immediate family to look after, so she has volunteered to help clean up the school so that once reconstruction material gets in, it can be repaired as early as possible. She also keeps a check on the chairs, tables, and any other material, all now exposed to the elements, to be sure they don't get stolen.

Devi does not think she is doing anything unusual. When Devendra Tak of Save the Children India spoke admiringly of her efforts, she said simply that she felt sorry for the children, that they had to see their school in this condition. Her own grown children are away working in India - a common story in remote villages. She has not been able to contact them since the earthquake struck, and knows they will be worrying about her; she hopes one of her sons will return to the village soon. Meanwhile she is busy.

In these remote, hilly regions the process of recovery will have to be led by the communities themselves, but many of the younger men, like her sons, are away; others who have lost employment through the effects of the earthquake will soon be following.

Any who remain will have to trek large distances to get hold of essential supplies and reconstruction materials. So it is the women who clear the rubble, collect water from nearby streams, and search the fields to find any vegetables that may be still left. It is they who are tending to the injured and managing the children, many of whom are traumatized, and unable to go to school.

'People don't steal supplies from women'

Earthquakes destroy indiscriminately - they take no account of gender. But relief efforts need to. In villages where men's and women's roles are strictly defined, to get help to where it is needed, relief agencies need to notice who is doing what, and who is most vulnerable. In Nawalparasi district Deepak Sharma says: “Lots of women activists have led the relief fund collection and distribution in affected areas” - and many of them got their first experience of organising through women’s savings co-operatives.
Archana Tamang Lama Nepali, a consultant who works with a number of different organisations, says: “Action Aid’s relief work is almost entirely led by women. Local women are leading the collection, distribution and social audits of all relief received. Having this managed by women has also prevented mob frenzy by desperate people as still-scarce supplies come in - people don't snatch things from women.”
_{Just one example of the destruction in Nepal (Getty)}
Local organisations that are already embedded in communities offer the best way to get emergency help to as many as possible. Nepali says: “We are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the young people who are volunteering.” Together they move from camp to camp, identifying children who have become separated from adults in the confusion. They help them write their names and their parent’s or guardian’s names, and any contact details, and this little piece of paper is then carried on the person of each child to help ‘finders’ contact parents. They also ask army personnel guarding the camps to spread the message. A simple step, no financial cost, but effective.
Sanjog Thakuri, who works with Yuwalaya, a youth-led NGO, says: “We have more than 500 young volunteers, including many women and young girls - nurses, doctors, public health workers, social media enthusiasts - and their commitment is wonderful.” From next week they will be going to the twelve most affected districts to talk about sanitation, hygiene, child safe spaces, and protection issues focusing on girls; and mostly it’s young girls who have been selected as facilitators.

'She carried the injured to hospitals'

Almost every small organisation - and Nepal has thousands of them - has responded to the crisis. Some are led by remarkable women. Sangay Amina Bomzon, who works for Handicap International, was one of the first people to be interviewed on BBC - she and her sons had been working tirelessly from within three hours of the earthquake, carrying the injured to x-ray rooms in the hospital.
She knew that quick action might prevent some of those injured from having life-long disabilities. When messages of congratulation for her passionate and articulate interview poured in on Facebook, she insisted that she did not want personal credit. “I was speaking on behalf of us all,” she said.
_{Residents cross a square covered in debris from collapsed buildings in Harisiddhi, Nepal (Omar Havana/Getty Images)}
Nicole Wick Thakuri, a Swiss woman who set up a sanctuary for children living on the streets, mobilised the centre into providing immediate help for those around them. They bought plastic sheeting for tents and took them to where they were needed. They distributed water, gave blood, organised activities to keep children occupied, and sent their own doctor and medical team to help at one of the most affected areas.
Another driving force is Sunita Danuwar, who runs Shakti Samuha, an organisation that helps rehabilitate women who have been forced into prostitution - as she herself was. As soon as it was possible to travel, she and her co-workers (also trafficking survivors) visited the severely hit Sindhupalchowk district, where they found almost all the houses had been destroyed and the women from the rehabilitation centre having spent four days without food or shelter. Now she is appealing for funds to reach other vulnerable women.

'It's been a whirlwind time'

At the other end of the social scale, teachers at the British School in Kathmandu are working with schools in the remote rural community of Dhading, close to the epicentre of the earthquake. For years they have creatively engaged their pupils in supporting these schools, which are now destroyed.
Gemma Caines, the teacher coordinating this project, will be visiting in three weeks time to see what's been left after the aid agencies have done their job. “Aid is getting in,” she says, “but when the water supplies and tarpaulins and medical kits have been dropped off, these children will be left again, with even less than they had before. Our aim is to mobilise our own students' energy and altruism, to get back into working with these schools so that these considerably less fortunate children have a chance at a basic education.”
What is happening in Kathmandu has powerful resonances for me. My new novel, Uncertain Light is set in Central Asia in the aftermath of a civil war in Tajikistan, and its central characters are people who work for international agencies responding to crises. Like the women in Kathmandu, they do not feel they are doing anything unusual. Whether local or outsiders, they are simply responding to what is in front of them.
“It’s been a whirlwind time,” says Archana, “but worth every second - for our country.”
*Sarita Devi's name was changed to protect her anonymity

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