Shocking!

Namaste

Nepal's second earthquake this week on 12th May took many people by surprise. We had not had an aftershock for several days so everyone was starting to relax, thinking the worst was over. 

With emergency funding to support us, I am now involved in assessing the needs of schools is 8 VDCs (Village Development Committees) in the worst hit areas of Lamjung District, mostly to the south and near the border with Gorkha.  I was out in the hills with Anju, a Nepali colleague from Global Action Nepal, visiting all the schools in Bharte, one VDC, to photograph and assess the damage to each one, so that those that were badly damaged and could no longer hold classes should have early relief and lessons could resume.

Cracks to roof supports

During the past two days we had visited five schools, whose damage was not too severe, mostly cracks in walls caused by small shifts in the ground, or surface plaster falling off in large chunks.  However we had seen bigger cracks in some walls and one classroom where the gable wall was looking very unstable, having moved about 4 centimetres outward and a substantial part of it fallen in. I advised the headteacher that the room should not be used.

We were walking up a steep rough track, cut into the hillside on the way to the school.  I did not notice the earth shaking to start with, as I was contemplating what we had seen so far, and concentrating on walking uphill fast to reach the next school. To me it didn't feel that bad - more like another of the milder shocks we have been having regularly since 25th April. (I believe there have been around 100 aftershocks – the latest at 5.5 was this morning whilst I was eating breakfast!) 

A man from a house beside the track came rushing out, telling us about the new earthquake and to be careful.  We then met students in uniform hurrying home from school along the path. They had been sent home because of the quake. When we reached the school five minutes later the students had all gone and the teachers were locking up ready to leave. They all looked shocked and unsure what to do. Many were phoning their families to check their safety.

The surrounding wall for the school had collapsed in places.

One teacher bravely took me quickly to see the damaged in classrooms and library. I took photos and filled in the report form once back outside again and away from the building. I also inspected the toilets, and observed that the girls toilet wall was badly cracked. I took more photographs to add to our report. A second shock made us rush into the open space between the school buildings for safety. I certainly felt that one!

Cracked toilet wall

When we were sure the shaking had stopped, I went back into the girls toilets, to see if this new shock had made things worse. It definitely had! The external wall was badly cracked, an internal wall was badly bowed and the concrete lintel over the toilet doors looked decidedly unstable.

When I spoke to the assistant principal, I told him the toilets were not safe for the girls to use. This will be a big problem as girls will not be prepared to use the boys toilet, so many will not attend school until this is repaired or rebuilt. As the school is high on a ridge, cement for rebuilding will need to be carried there. During our three days in this area we saw several trains of mules loaded with bags of cement, two per mule, making their way uphill.

Everyone from the village was sitting outside afraid to go back into their houses. Many stayed there for much of the afternoon. 

People sheltering by the temple.

We had stayed the night before at the house of a kind female teachers from the secondary school, and had been treated like honoured guests. The house was built on the hillside in the traditional style using stone set with mud as cement. These are the houses which have suffered so much damage in the earthquake as they are not strong. A neighbouring house had collapsed during the first quake, and everyone was busy helping with the rebuilding. I noticed they were now using concrete pillars with iron reinforcement this time, to give the new house strength.

Building a new stronger house

For safety that night we slept in the nearby health post building, along with another family, all of us on the floor.  This new building is a much stronger structure than the traditional stone and mud houses of the village. In the middle of the night came another tremor. Everybody scrambled to get up but luckily the shaking quickly stopped and we returned to bed.

Fortunately, damage to most schools we have seen has not been too severe. However damage to the classrooms walls at one primary school meant that lessons were being taught outside, which will not be an option once the monsoon arrives.  We are hoping to get some emergency funding for this school to provide a ‘Temporary Learning Space’ so students can at least be taught undercover.

The kindness of the people I have met has been a special feature of my travels this week. Everywhere we went we received smiles and greetings. Complete strangers have given us water, tea, snacks, fruit and even a daal bhat meal. Village people have left their work to lead us through the forest paths or villages to the schools we were searching. Thank you to everyone who has helped us at this difficult time in such a friendly way.

Aftermath - a week later.

Namaste.

It is now over a week since the devastating earthquake shook Nepal.  A week experiencing a whole range of emotions; terror, relief, thankfulness, hope, despair, horror, pity and helplessness to name but a few.

Most people will have heard about the earthquake and seen the dramatic photographs of Kathmandu on the world’s media. The devastation in some areas is horrific! Thousands have been killed, with the toll still rising and many more injured in the worst hit areas.  Unknown numbers have been left homeless as their houses have been damaged or destroyed by the powerful shaking.  Some remote communities needing aid have yet to be reached and this is proving difficult due to routes blocked by landslides.  Often there is no vehicle access to these communities, so aid has to be carried in or delivered by helicopter.

Kathmandu is a capital city with more than a million living there.  To put it into perspective many were unhurt and their homes not badly damaged. Sadly many poorer families from the city will be the ones worst affected by this tragedy as they frequently lived in overcrowded houses, often a family in one room. Their homes tended to be in older, less strongly-built houses, and were often the ones that collapsed in the quake.  In some areas the houses were build very close to each other, and many storeys high.  There would have been a domino effect when they collapsed. These poor families badly need aid as they have not the finance or resources to replace what they have lost.

Since the ‘great’ quake, as it is now being called, there have been many aftershocks, even a small one just before 12 o’clock on Saturday, exactly a week since the first. Fortunately most of these aftershocks have been slight and over time they have become weaker and less frequent. However people are still scared and sudden vibrations or loud noises cause people to move quickly, ready to evacuate the building. Nobody wants to be caught inside a collapsing building!

Fortunately, the town of Besisahar where I live, despite being quite close to the epicenter, has not been much damaged and the district has few casualties.  However, in the rural villages nearby, many of the traditionally built houses, constructed of wood, stones, bamboo and mud plaster, have not withstood the shaking well, and are cracked or damaged. Some have had walls break and crumble or lean-to walls collapse. However there is not the blanket destruction of homes that has affected other districts, where reports talk of every house in the village being flattened.

Life in the town is returning to normal. Many of the shops in the main street are open for business and people are going about their daily lives. There is plenty of fresh food on sale, much of it grown locally and brought down to the town in baskets (dokho) carried on the back. Buses are running, shops are taking deliveries, builders are continuing the constructions and women working on the terraced fields. At the Global Action Nepal office all my colleagues were working most days last week to complete the end of month financial reports.

Schools have been officially closed last week, much to the delight of the students. Many have been playing outside, the terrors of last Saturday forgotten.  Shlok, a ten year old boy living near me, normally attends boarding school in Kathmandu. He and his brother were lucky to get on a bus leaving the city on Monday, before the big rush to leave really took off.  They are now enjoying the safety of home, and an unexpected holiday, and will stay until the situation improves in Kathmandu.

A phone call to check on each of the schools and communities that we are working, with on the Sisters for Sisters project, has reassured us that nine schools have sustained little damaged, and hopefully will be open and working next week after the official period of mourning ends.  I look forward to my next visits to these schools. Three schools, our most southerly and nearest to the epicentre, have more damage and will need repairs before their students can attend again.

There is much movement around the country at this time.  Many long distance buses are crowded with people who live or work away from home, and are anxious to return to their families and homes, to see for themselves the effect of the earthquake and do what they can to help.

As VSO volunteers, we have all been offered repatriation to our home countries. Those from the worst affected areas have been encouraged to go, if there was no further useful work they could accomplish. I feel quite safe in Besisahar, with clean water, sanitation, food and electricity not being affected, so have decided to remain and continue the work I am doing.   I have offered to be involved in any quake related initiatives, should that be appropriate, and I know VSO Nepal staff are working to make plans for this at present.

Now the country needs to get back to some semblance of normality as soon as is possible. In the meantime, a sincere “Thank you” to everyone who has donated money, either for rescue, relief or rebuilding.  Your donations are very much needed to help this very poor nation at this time.  Thank You.

EARTHQUAKE, Nepal - 25th April 2015

Namaste.
Life is full of surprises!! I was sitting in my room reading at about midday on Saturday, when everything began to shake. An earthquake!

We had a few small tremors recently, but this was totally different. This time the whole building was shaking vigorously and I could hear crashes as things fell. I rushed down the stairs - my flat is on the third floor - reached the metal gate four flights of stairs down, and realised I needed my key to unlock it and get out. The key was back upstairs! Seconds later I had fetched it, unlocked the gate and was out in the back garden climbing the terraces to get away from the buildings.  Amazing how fast you can travel when your life may depend on it.  All my neighbours had streamed out of their houses and everyone was out on the street or on the hillside. Many were calling and shouting, children crying too, loud creaking and banging coming from the nearby buildings.  I stood on the hillside experiencing the shaking, waiting for it to stop and realised how terrified I felt. My heart was thumping hard in my chest, a product of all the adrenalin being pumped around my body.

Looking at the houses below, we could see the glass in windows vibrating, and one window popped out with a crash.  Time was passing slowly - the earthquake seemed to last a long time, but in reality it was less than two minutes from start to finish.
Once the shaking stopped, many people were checking on each other, was everyone all right? Nobody seemed hurt although all were very shaken. There was no noticeable damage to the buildings around us either, except for a few broken windows.
One knowledgeable man was telling everyone they must stay outside "there will be an aftershock soon!" He said. Within 30 minutes the first aftershock came, not as long or as violent as the first quake, but equally scary, despite the fact that we were all waiting for it.

The man, who lives in the top flat over the road from mine, had left his elderly parents inside, too old to rush down. He was trying to phone them, but of course, the communications were down. He told me that he was 49 and had never experienced anything as bad as this before, that made me realised this was a serious quake! We had been warned during our initial training that Nepal was due for a big earthquake, the last was in 1934, when Kathmandu had been very badly damaged, but you never expect it to happen to you.
After a while I noticed someone had a phone connection, and hurriedly texted my daughter in Britain to say I was all right which was fortunate because we then lost all contact for several hours. In the meantime she was able to inform everyone at home that I was safe.

Many Besisahar people preferred to remain outside for most of the day, which was sensible given the frequent aftershocks we were experiencing. Everywhere there were groups of people, sitting on steps or waste ground, waiting - too frightened to return into their homes.  After the first bigger aftershock fortunately the others that day were small. Even once heavy rain began falling most people stayed undercover but close to exits so they could get out quickly. No one was taking the risk of being caught in a falling building.

People in the street - safer than indoors with the risk of
further aftershocks.

Jude, my VSO colleague and I decided to stay together, for company and to share news etc. We were concerned about the abundance of electricity wires over the streets, which would be dangerous should they fall, so collected some things including our emergency bags, which VSO had instructed us to keep ready at all times, and made for the local hotel which has grassy gardens and open space. We felt safer in its single storey buildings and dry when the rain came, and as a bonus the hotel had Internet connection, so we could keep in contact with what was happening in the rest of the region. Gradually news filtered through with the details of the quake - some in texts from friends and family in the UK, where it was headlines on the BBC early morning news. Kathmandu seemed to be very badly hit, and reports of deaths and photos of buildings collapsing emphasised the gravity of the earthquake. 7.9 on the Richter scale, which was big! Someone from VSO phoned to check we were safe and unhurt. Fortunately she was able to report that all VSO Nepal staff and volunteers are safe and well.

As darkness fell we saw television reports of the rescue of people from collapsed buildings in Kathmandu, the wreckage of historic buildings and temples that I had visited with my family ten days ago, and the huge cracks in the roads. What devastation! How lucky we were that Besisahar, although closer to the epicentre of the earthquake than Kathmandu, had not suffered nearly so badly.

We were still experiencing aftershocks as we ate supper at the hotel, and later decided that it would be a good place to sleep, so we could get out quickly if another quake happened. We had been joined by two work colleagues who also lived in upstairs flats and felt unsafe.  After collecting blankets from Jude's flat we bedded down, fully clothed, on the floor of the meeting room. Many Nepalis had a similar idea and the covered terraces outside were a mass of sleeping families.

During the night there were aftershocks at around 11pm, 2.30am and 5am; each time we quickly got up and left the building. After the last we decided there was no point in trying to sleep further, as everyone around us was talking and moving around. We all checked our phones and emails for further news, and started the new day.

Another big aftershock came on Sunday morning, just more than 24 hours after the first, at around 12.30. In bare feet I rushed out of the office, down the stairs and ran for the vegetable terrace over the road, away from the possibility of falling masonry. 6.7 on the Richter scale this time and lasting for about a minute.  After that everyone in the town seemed to have given up the idea of work, all shops had their shutters down and people were sitting in relatively open spaces, where they felt safer, in family groups on mats under tent-like tarpaulins for shade. Many slept there overnight too, despite more heavy rain.

Tarpaulin shelter - overnight accommodation for at least 30 people.

We VSO volunteers have offered our services in humanitarian aid if needed, but only time will tell if we can be of any use.  It is difficult to predict how long it will take for Nepal to get back to normal.  This is a huge tragedy for such a poor nation, already struggling to bring itself into the twenty-first century, and develop an infrastructure in such a difficult terrain.  It will be several days before the final death toll can be reported, especially from remote communities in the hills. Foreign aid has been promised by many countries, and will be of great help.
If you can afford to, please donate to a relief fund to help the victims of this calamity.

Bathtime in Sauraha

Namaste
Everyone seemed to be making for the river. From paths and side lanes they trouped.  The village of Sauraha seemed filled with excitement  What was happening? Why the hurry of these huge animals towards the river?

Time for a bath, jumbo style!

I think I'll sit down in the water.

Nothing beats communal bathing.

Just a little sideways roll.

I do like to be scrubbed behind the ears.

If I time it right I should be able to shower my keeper!

Got him that time!

That's better, now I'm fresh and cool.

Bees

Namaste
While staying in one of the hilltop villages when working in the rural school there, my host Khambi decided to remove the honey from one of her hives.  It was early in the morning, 7am, well before she left for the school where she teaches.
The sun was just coming up over the surrounding hills and the light was beautiful. The smoke she used to subdue the bees glowed in the sunlight, and I watched entranced, as she worked. The honey dripping and oozing from the frame, was really golden with the sun streaming through it. Magical!

Later, when I returned from visiting the early morning coaching class, I was presented with a saucer of fresh honey to taste, straight from the hive.  What a privilege!

Bandipur

Namaste,
A sunny weekend spent with friends from Devon at Bandipur, a small hill town sited high above the main road between Pokhora and Kathmandu. We stayed at The Old Inn, a traditional house restored in Newari style and turned into a lovely hotel. The building is full of beautiful carved wood and interesting artifacts.  Lovely food and good service too. It was nice to be spoilt for the weekend!

My room has a low ceiling and dark stained woodwork.  There is a balcony from which I can look out down the valley.

The library has comfy chairs and interesting fittings.

When it is clear there are wonderful mountain views, but sadly this weekend it has been too hazy, so have had to be satisfied with the nearby hills.  Outside on the terrace there are tables and chairs for visitors to use. We ate breakfast there each morning and we spent several hours there, sitting in the sun reading our books on Saturday afternoon.

Gateway to the lower garden.

Decorated door

Bandipur is a pedestrianised town, with no motorised traffic, making it peaceful, tranquil and very relaxing.  The Main Street is paved in stone and there are stone paths and steps leading down the hillsides between the houses. Visitors stroll around or stop for refreshments at the cafes.




There are numerous small temples to find and beautiful flowers everywhere.

A good place for a weekend away, if you live in Nepal!

Getting married

Namaste.

It was exciting to be invited to a Nepali wedding that was taking place in a village not far from Besisahar.  Manzu, one of the young women I work with, invited us to the marriage of her cousin, Sunita, although we had never met her.  We were told to come early so that we could see the preparations and watch what took place.  Everyone was very kind and welcoming and we were treated as honoured guests. 

 This was an arranged marriage as is frequent in Nepal. After the ceremony the bride will leave her family home, to live with her new husbands family, about 10 miles away. The bride was dressed in a beautiful red sari decorated with gold embroidery, red is the traditional colour for weddings and for married women.  Her hands were decorated with intricate patterns.  She looked beautiful, but very subdued and sad and maybe a little scared. 

Puja in the courtyard

In the centre of the courtyard outside her home, a small temporary mandir had been created; the upright corners of small trees supporting strings of decorations between them.  A fire had been lit in the centre and offerings had been placed on mats on the floor around it.  The bride did ‘puja’ (prayers) there just after we arrived.  

Shortly after this we were each given a tikka of rice and crimson powder and a flower placed in our hair.

The grooms party climbing the hill.

The village where the wedding was taking place is about 30 minutes walk from the road.  The groom, his family and friends came in two buses and then had to climb up the hill. They were led by a band and we could hear them coming, especially the Nepali drums and horns, well before they came into view. 

The first part of the ceremony was very short. The couple sat together by the Mandir and prayers were said with the man who seemed to be officiating. 

During the morning, one of the terraces below the house was taken over for cooking food, on fires burning in pits dug for that purpose.  Huge pans of rice and different curries were being prepared.  A long trestle table was set up on the terrace for serving the meal and red plastic garden chairs were scattered around under the trees. 

When the time came to eat the men ate first while the women all sat around the house and waited for their turn. Once all the men had eaten their fill then came the turn of the women.

I was interested to see that the bride and groom ate separately – the groom with his male friends and family, whilst the bride returned to her room with two close friends.

The band played .........

The band played and to start with only the young men danced, and some sang.  Much later a few women were encouraged to dance.  Nepali dancing for women is all about moving the arms and hands, in a very expressive way. People brought chairs to surround the dancing area and watch the dancers.

and everyone enjoyed the dancing.

While the dancing was going on, the family and friends paid their respects to the new couple.  People gradually took turns to wash the feet of the couple and to place tikka on their foreheads, whilst giving them money and presents. 

I wish the couple long life and much happiness. Many thanks for inviting us to join your special day.