At last – out of the office and to Dhading! I went with Paul and Susan (male!), a Livelihoods Advisor, to meet the UMN Dhading Cluster Team and local NGO partners to draw up agreements for starting the reconstruction programme. UMN, like other international organisations (INGOs) are no longer directly run projects; they work through local Nepali partners (NGOs). It was interesting to travel through our old community forestry working area and see the changes – great to see increased forest  - also more houses and of course more traffic!

Shashi and Prem, two of our Dhading staff, led the discussions with partners, handling sensitive topics such as estimated staff needs, pay scales, benefits etc. Salary scales were agreed for each level, plus ‘remote allowance’  - though many commented that since the earthquake rates had risen and manpower is scarce, especially for masons and overseers.

For the livelihoods work the main focus initially will be on livestock shed reconstruction materials to enable farmers to manage their livestock better and utilize manure more efficiently.  We have included provision for some improved breeds that will help to upgrade local stock through cross breeding plus fodder grass/trees to improve nutrition.  There will be distribution of fruit saplings and seed, according to the altitude and soil profile. Dhading district ranges from less than 500m to almost 8,000m altitude.

Met with staff of SHANTI NEPAL – a local organisation delivering sanitation projects in Dhading. They have agreed to take on all the toilet construction work – in schools and health posts as well as for houses.

We met with the Peace building Team - Bal Kumari, Mohan, Laura (who previously worked for the peace building process in Northern Ireland) to go through the ‘Human Effects’ part of our disaster response plan. They will provide orientation and gender awareness training for all new staff. This will prepare them for handling potential conflict situations and enable them to recognize where people are suffering from trauma to make sure they receive the right support.

We also need to be aware of people with disabilities. Those with existing disabilities faced particular difficulties in getting to a place of safety and accessing rescue and rehabilitation. Thousands of others are newly disabled due to injury in the earthquake. The needs of disabled people need to be carefully considered in any new construction to ensure safety and accessibility.

Three full days of interviewing this week for 2 Programme Managers, 2 Livelihoods Project Managers and one Human Effects Manager, 2 Shelter/Construction Project Managers for North & South areas in Dhading. It’s more difficult to recruit for the North as this is a remote area, 2 full days walk from the road so hard on staff with families back in Kathmandu. Most construction candidates were from private sector, Ktm based companies, used to dealing with large scale projects. We had to assess who would best be able to adjust to a completely different remote rural situation.

Mid-week we went with a Nepali engineer to inspect TLC (Temporary Learning Centre) prototype frames at 3 different companies at the edge of Kathmandu Valley. These ‘bolt together’ prototypes are designed to be transported by road then carried up into the mountains by porters and finally bolted together on site. Altogether we will be building around 40 TLCs which, being earthquake resistent are also suitable to be used as emergency shelters.

Visiting Asha-Nepal

  (Rachel) During an hour’s bumpy ride to the North of Kathmandu I decided that it was, sadly, too far to travel to work with Asha-Nepal. Well, the moment I walked through the door I knew that I was in the right place. The Asha-Nepal team - director, social worker, psycho-social counsellor, house managers and house mothers, community liaison officer, finance officer, all who I met, are impressive women, clearly passionate about their work with young women and children in Nepal who have suffered from the worst social evils: trafficking into the sex trade, physical and sexual abuse, discrimination by gender and caste– as well as those who are at severe risk of abuse or being trafficked. Asha-Nepal provides care, a safe place and education to around 100 children, mostly girls aged 6 to 18 years, plus some boys aged 6 to 11 in ‘family environments’. They also support their mothers through an outreach programme and work towards integrating women and children back into the community as soon as possible.

I am happy that Smriti Khadkha (director) has asked me to assist them to publish an attractive annual report for general circulation. She has also asked me to work with the psycho-social counsellor and social worker with the women and girls to write their stories.

                                

Crimes 

Despite laws against trafficking, sexual abuse and gender discrimination, there seems little effort, in a male-dominated society, by the Nepal government and legal system to reduce these crimes. Asha-Nepal steps in when children and young girls are at serious risk, to prevent harm coming to them. The girls and women are referred to them by non-governmental organisations [NGOs], government agencies and, occasionally, individuals or a family member. They are then assessed by the social work team and supported by Asha-Nepal.

Recovery

After a lot of support over time, when young women are ready to resume normal daily life in the community, they are supported into appropriate employment through the Job Coordination Scheme and in some cases seed loans are given to start a small business. When children in residential care are ready to return to their families, they are transferred to the 'Family Preservation Programme'. They are able to continue with their schooling and receive additional support as needed to enable them to stay in the family home, such as assistance with rent and food. 

Back in the outside world, life can be tough for some of these young people; they may be rejected by their families and communities, and become outcasts in the eyes of society. The door of Asha-Nepal remains open for them always…. 

Sorry I was unable to publish these but see this link for photos taken by the women and girls:

http://www.asha-nepal.org/pages/media/my_world.php

In my next blog I’ll share some of the womens’ stories with you….. 

Photos of Dhading post earthquake http://www.himalayanwonders.com

First weeks with Disaster Response Team Nepal

It’s great to be back in Nepal and to join the Disaster Response Team of United Mission to Nepal (UMN). I (Finlay) have to say it’s a much bigger programme than I thought. I’ll be based in Kathmandu during the monsoon whilst we do all the planning and recruiting the staff we need to work with our partner organisations who are based in Dhading. Temporary relief work has been carried out with 10,000 + households and the reconstruction work – houses, water supplies, toilets, livestock, seed, trail and bridge repairs etc will start after the monsoon rains. (October)

Disaster response – the task ahead

We will be working with over seven thousand households, huge budget and the pressure from funders to get the money spent quickly…..! With TearFund we’re organizing extra training for 900 stonemasons to build earthquake resistant houses and replace 40 school buildings with temporary learning centres. These will also be used as emergency community shelters in case of further earthquakes.

There is danger during the monsoon rain of landslides so lots of people have had to move into camps even if their house is ok. Also fields have been destroyed and having to start again on rough marginal land. A whole community has relocated to the top of a hill in the northern area because their village has been wiped out. In the whole area 80% of houses have been either destroyed or badly damaged. There are many people living in temporary camps.

Women

Women are especially suffering in different ways. There is a high % of female head of household since many more males since the earthquake have gone abroad working, which puts additional strain on the family now. Women are left to do all the field work, manage the home and will have to help to rebuild their house and livelihood. They are highly anxious about their children – feeding them, letting them out of their sight on unstable hillsides, dealing with their mental trauma. It is distressing for pregnant women in the camps as the conditions for health and hygiene are difficult. Some trauma counselling training is being given to school teachers.

We will be sensitive to women’s needs in house construction. They should have a say about how the house is set up eg  better cooking stoves, and proper ventilation. There may need to be space for menstruating women to sleep separately and not prepare food as this is culturally important in some groups. However this is controversial; some commentators see this as perpetuating traditions which marginalize women in their own homes. It is an opportunity in the communities for discussion on cultural practices at this time of great change and decision making when rebuilding homes and communities.

More about what Rachel is up to and life in general later…..