Nepal Earthquake Recovery Appeal 2015 (NERA)-Activities Update Two: August 2015

The NERA team would like to say a big thank you to everyone, individuals and organisations for supporting this appeal with essential donations and invaluable encouragement, advice, time and expertise. These contributions are allowing NERA to achieve its aim of identifying capable, competent and trusted grassroots initiatives and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) working on the ground in Nepal and to support them with grants for urgent earthquake relief aid and seed funding for projects and initiatives focusing on mid-term recovery and rebuilding. Whilst also profiling these organisations through the medium of short-films with the purpose of highlighting the important work these organisations are doing in collaboration with the local communities within which they work. The films are then shared on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo and on the individual websites of each of the organisations. By supporting small competent and capable organisations that know the local context and community of their work well, allows for a much more hands on direct approach to rebuilding and recovery. The intention is to deliver tangible results efficiently, whilst preserving cultural and contextual sensibilities, so as to empower local communities to guide the rebuilding of their own communities. Alison Marston and Camille Summers-Valli volunteer their time and The Bulldog Trust have kindly allowed donations to be channelled through the trust, which allows all the monies donated to be directed to those in need without any administration costs. Donations can still be made at Nepal Earthquake Recovery Appeal 2015 or via bank transfer or cheque to The Bulldog Trust – Sort Code 15 99 00, Account number 10048750 (Reference: Nepal 2015). For international donors: IBAN GB28 HOAB 1599 0010 0478 50, Swift Code: HOABG2L

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1. ‘Dancing for Nepal’ Fundraiser: We were always aware that raising funds after the initial disaster, when the media coverage of the situation died down was going to be challenging, so when Karen Pilkington-Miksa, Founder and Artistic Director of the New English Ballet Theatre (NEBT-www.nebt.co.uk) suggested the company collaborate with NERA on a fundraiser we jumped at the opportunity. DANCING FOR NEPAL saw the NEBT dancers perform a varied and exciting programme consisting of four works in it’s touring repertoire, a brand new pas de deux and two performances by guest artists, Gary Avis, Olivia Cowley and David Donnelly from the Royal Ballet and English National Ballet. NEBT performed Tangents, choreographed by former Dutch National Ballet dancer Daniela Cardim Fonteyne, Orbital Motion, by the Royal Ballet’s Valentino Zucchetti, Toca by Royal Ballet’s Erico Montes and Mad Women by Royal Ballet’s Kristen McNally. Dancing for Nepal, featuring 4 performances between the 20th-22nd of August was held at the St James Theatre in Victoria, London. Despite much of the media interest having moved on from Nepal, the need for funds and support is more critical than ever before with rural communities facing the real dangers of landslides caused by monsoon rains on fragile landscapes, flooding of temporary shelters, loss/destruction of crops and the challenge of storing harvests in the situations where this fortunately hasn’t happened. The spread of disease became ever more present with an article in the Nepali Times on the 8th of August announcing the arrival of Cholera in Kathmandu.

A film shot in London and Nepal, following the rehearsals of the ballet dancers into the communities that the fundraiser, Dancing for Nepal, will support. By Camille Summers-Valli

2. Funding activities:

NERA has to date raised just under £300,000 with which it is supporting grassroots NGOs with financial grants whilst also profiling their work. The NERA team was on the ground in the first week after the initial earthquake of the 25th of April (7.8 on the Richter Scale) and before the second 7.3 magnitude earthquake on the 12th of May between the 1st -17th of May to identify these grassroots organisations providing vital mid-term recovery through the monsoon season (June-September) and the period following this. NERA supported initial emergency relief aid aimed at providing immediate critical supplies (food, water, shelter) with a holistic approach, including vital basic medical treatment and veterinary services, which are both so key at a time like this when many households have injured or sick livestock, to communities not yet reached by other organisations. The NERA team was back on the ground for a second visit (28th of July -15th of August) to assess the situation during the monsoon and to meet with funded organisations and to get an update on projects, such as the 7.6 Life to Dubachaur (7.6 LTD) project seen in this short film. We visited Clean up Nepal, http://cleanupnepal.org.np/, in their new office and met the team, including new members Rija Joshi and Aakash Shrestha. It is great to see this organisation grow and flourish.

We also met other small NGO’s with the aim of supporting more projects working towards the mid-term recovery and rebuilding of local communities in Nepal. Recovery projects cover the building of transitional mid-term housing, rebuilding of schools and health posts/clinics, implementation and training of sanitation and hygiene projects, vocational training for income generation, community radio broadcasting and psychosocial counselling. NERA’s strategy has always been to utilise the majority of funds for mid-term recovery, to support sustainable efforts, delivering projects with long-term impacts to people in the most affected districts.

A film about the collaboration between NERA and 7.6 Life to Dubachaur (7.6 LTD)

3. Burns Violence Survivors-Nepal (BVS-Nepal):

NERA made its first grants for relief aid with its primary partner Burn Violence Survivors-Nepal (BVS–Nepal), which is an NGO established in 2008 to support survivors of burns, resulting from accidents, or violence, such as attempted homicide attacks, normally using kerosene or acid and cases of self-immolation and attempted suicide, often stemming from domestic violence and poverty (www.bvsnepal.org.np). Relief aid distributions, medical and veterinary services were provided to 555 families/households in the villages of Mulabari, Karinduga, Pokharigaun and Aamdada in Kalleri VDC, Dhading District, 120 single women households in Dharmasthali, Kathmandu District, another 65 families in Kathmandu and to 150 households in Dukhtali, Dolakha District, hardest hit by the 12th of May earthquake and a series of landslides since then. According to Earthquakes without Frontiers; “[a]pproximately 5,600 landslides have been identified to date, including new landslides triggered by the 25 April 2015 Gorkha earthquake and the 12 May 2015 Dolakha earthquakes, as well as reactivations of landslides that were present before the earthquake sequence began.” Additionally, 4 large water-purifying filtration units were delivered to Yellow Gompa in Swayambhunath, Kathmandu, where 400-500 survivors of the Langtang valley tragedy were seeking refuge and two other units to schools in Lalitpur district supporting children affected by the HIV virus. BVS-Nepal is distributing school kits for 410 students from Mulabari, Aamdada, and Karindunga in Dhading District, where the children have lost all of their belongs, including items for school in the rubble of their houses. Each kit contains school bag, water bottle, tiffin box, torchlight, 8 notebooks, pens, a dozen pencils, coloured-pencils, a pencil-box, a uniform, a raincoat, and a geometry-box. BVS-Nepal’s focus on longer-term projects, started with a collaborative project with implementing partner Volunteer for Change (VFC), http://www.vfcnepal.org/, building 55 temporary transitional shelters with solar panels and 25 toilets in Mane and Kaphalbot villages in Burunchile, Champi Municipality, Lalitpur District. These transitional shelters, will shelter the populations for the monsoon, after which the corrugated iron sheets (CGI) can be reused in the rebuild of more permanent structures/houses. BVS-Nepal will also partner with VFC to rebuild two schools in Dhading. NERA is funding the construction of a 9-classroom school in Mulabari village and a second school in Aamdada village for 6-classrooms is being funded by money raised by members of the BVS-Nepal team (Laetitia Vanderstichelen, Volunteer Executive Director and Kripa Rana). Both projects are collaborative projects with the local communities with villagers providing the labour. Both of these sites were visited by the NERA team on the last visit and can be seen in the latest short film on BVS-Nepal.

A film about NERA, BVS-NEPAL and VFC’s efforts in the rebuilding efforts

4. Volunteer for Change (VFC):

VFC, http://www.vfcnepal.org/, is an NGO established in 2010 providing a variety of internship and volunteering opportunities within Nepal to hundreds of young people from around the world. Its vision is to bring about positive change to the local communities volunteers work in, through the ethos “change within, change between and change among”. VFC intends to therefore make sure the impact of its work is visible and sustainable.

5. Childreach Nepal (CN)

Childreach Nepal, http://www.childreachnp.org/, is an NGO established in 2009 working in partnership with local communities to unlock a child’s potential. Childreach Nepal strongly believes that all children in Nepal should have access to education, health care, protection and most importantly an opportunity for meaningful participation. Over the last 6 years, CN has worked with communities in the Kathmandu, Sindhupalchowk, Nuwakot, Kavrepalanchowk, and Bhaktapur Districts, specialising in delivering education and protection programmes, with a track record of establishing schools as community hubs and placing children at the centre of community development. This work has included establishing and mobilising health centres to function from within schools, giving children and their families’ access to medical care within rural areas, and encouraging parents and community members to visit schools and participate in their children’s education.

After a comprehensive needs assessment CN prioritised Sindhupalchowk as its district of primary focus. It has been devastated by the earthquakes, with 170, 614 people having been severely affected, with estimates suggesting 59% of the total population have lost their homes. There are 126,535 children under the age of 19 in the district and 500 schools severely damaged or destroyed. It also has one of the highest rates of trafficking in the country, based on its history of a population marginalised by poverty, gender and caste discrimination and lack of livelihood opportunities (OSOCC), resulting in women and children being vulnerable to trafficking. As one of the worst affected rural districts, many families in Sindhupalchowk have lost all of their financial assets in the earthquakes, and are at risk of believing that they are sending their children to a better life when in fact, they could be sending them to brothels or into labour via trafficking networks targeting vulnerable families. The risk of child trafficking is made worse by the lack of educational facilities for children to attend in the aftermath of the earthquake. When children are not attending school, they are much more likely to be unaccompanied and are more open to the idea of leaving their communities in search of an education. Education in the aftermath of an emergency such as an earthquake is essential because it provides a safe space for children to be consulted and is a key vehicle for communicating messages about the risks of trafficking, preventable diseases, nutrition, hygiene and other lifesaving topics. CN is responding by establishing Temporary Learning Centres (TLC’s), which are structures designed in consultation with the local communities and fitting government guidelines for semi-permanent structures, but are designed and built in such a way that they earthquake resilient and robust enough to last 40 years. NERA is supporting CN with a grant to build 10 semi-permanent classrooms benefitting 300 children in Sindhupalchowk before December 2015. Semi-permanent classroom are purchased in units, which contain 2 classrooms and each unit is 678 square feet.

6. Advocacy Forum (AF)

Advocacy Forum (AF), http://advocacyforum.org/, is an NGO working to promote the rule of law and uphold international human rights standards in Nepal. Since its establishment in 2001, AF has been at the forefront of human rights advocacy and actively confronting the deeply entrenched culture of impunity in Nepal. AF’s contribution to human rights advocacy in Nepal has been recognised by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as being “[o]ne of Asia’s most respected and effective Human Rights Organisations”. Its vision is to establish a just Nepali society with effective mechanisms ensuring fair and accessible justice to all.

NERA is supporting Advocacy Forum with a grant to assist conflict affected beneficiaries who have been further disadvantaged and marginalised by the earthquake. The grant will fund an income generation project in Dolakha and Ramechhap districts for households left disabled as a result of extreme torture during the 10year conflict. It has been found that these groups of people are neglected by the government from receiving interim relief, yet are particularly in need as they are financially burdened by the costs they incur on purchasing regular medication and the time families spend on caring for them. The grant will therefore be spent on seed funding to purchase/replace livestock and poultry to breed and seeds for cultivation to earn enough income to cover the costs of medication and general living costs.

7. Association of Community Radio Broadcasters Nepal (ACORAB)

ACORAB, http://www.acorab.org.np/, was established in 2002 as an autonomous and politically non-partisan organisation, working in 74 districts of Nepal with a network of more than 240 community radio stations. Its aim is to advance the cause of community radio, by facilitating the sharing of knowledge and resources, whilst speaking with one voice for the community that it represents. As an association, it aims to promote, protect, and strengthen the capacity of the community radios so that they can contribute to social transformation and the Nepalese people can access accurate information and enjoy freedom of speech. Fundamentally, it aims to benefit Nepal’s democratisation and peace process by allowing for greater expression at the grassroots and by linking the voices of marginalised, excluded, and poverty-stricken to the national discourse. Radio is a widely used source of communication in Nepal and as a result of the earthquake on 25th of April 2015, more than 120 community radio stations of the 14 most earthquake-affected districts have been impacted, but in spite of these extremely challenging circumstances and amidst loss of infrastructure and equipment community radios continued to serve their local populations. ACORAB formulated a special daily half-hour programme called ‘Bhukampa Pachhiko Jivan Raksha‘ (Post-Crisis Life Line) broadcasting information on safety, services and general advice aimed at helping bring a sense of normality to people. The programme engages experts to speak on issues such as health, hygiene and sanitation, safety, psychosocial counselling, spiritual healing, practical information on rebuilding and issues specifically related to women and children. NERA is supporting the broadcasting of this programme for 3 months post-earthquake during the monsoon and to continue after the monsoon.

A short film about ACORAB’s work

8. EcoHimal Nepal

EcoHimal Nepal, http://www.ecohimal.org/, is a national NGO founded in 2009 with the goal of achieving sustainable development through community empowerment in Nepal’s mountain areas. Having worked in the region since 1992 as the Asia Regional Office of EcoHimal, an international non-government organization (INGO), EcoHimal Nepal has more than two decades of experience in livelihood enhancement through sustainable development and community capacity-building. It implements projects in remote and marginalised areas of Nepal through integrated and participatory approaches, emphasising the importance of local community engagement in order to create a sense of community ownership of projects, whilst advocating for collective actions for healthier and more inclusive societies. NERA is supporting EcoHimal-Nepal with a grant for capacity-building training with the purpose to educate and enhance technical skills in building back seismic resilient infrastructures post-disaster, so that skilled human resources are available at the grassroots level, promoting rebuilding and local employment opportunities. This training will take place in Waku and Deusa Village Development Committees (VDCs) of Solukhumbu District, where Mt. Everest and other major mountain peaks are situated. The proposed project area is remote, inhabited by some of the poorest, disadvantaged and most vulnerable populace in Nepal with very limited access to development resources. These communities suffered catastrophic damages with 813 (419- Waku & Deusa-394) houses being destroyed and 844 (484-Waku & 360 Deusa) houses damaged, due to poor construction methods of physical infrastructures making them seismically vulnerable.

The vocational training for 54 trainees (27 from Waku and 27 from Deusa) will include safe demolition, site-clearing, carpentry and masonry skills for communities to help with reconstruction, develop local employment opportunities and transform local knowledge in earthquake resilient construction methods and impacting 1,024 households, 10 schools and 1 health-post in Deusa VDC and 1,107 Households, 14 school and 1 health-post in Waku VDC.

9. Women’s Group Disability Rights (WGDR)

WGDR is an NGO established in 2014, working to promote the rights of women with disability, whilst also providing services to help empower them through workshops on reproductive health and rights for women with disability. It also collaborates with the Internet Society to host communications workshops, helping this marginalised group of women in Nepal access training on how to use computers and the Internet. Although WGDR is a relatively new organisation, its founders have a long history of working with disadvantaged women, especially in the field of psychosocial disability, with all its founders describing themselves as ‘Survivors’. They have a broad knowledge base of counselling, including setting up peer support groups and it is this area that NERA is looking to support WGDR. A grant has been given to provide counselling training sessions for teachers, local authorities, civil society groups and health workers in Bhaktapur District, which was proportionally the most affected district in the Kathmandu Valley.

10. Next Steps

The longer-term aim of NERA is to help create a network of Nepali NGOs working in the earthquake relief effort and on mid-term recovery and rebuilding projects, through which direct funds can be channelled, information exchanged and knowledge shared. We will continue to inform you of any future upcoming events or fundraising initiatives, which may be of interest. Your support is vital. Once again, on behalf of the NERA team and all the organisations NERA has supported through your generosity we would like to say a very big thank you. Donations can still be made at Nepal Earthquake Recovery Appeal 2015 or via bank transfer or cheque to The Bulldog Trust – Sort Code 15 99 00, Account number 10048750 (Reference: Nepal 2015). For international donors: IBAN GB28 HOAB 1599 0010 0478 50, Swift Code: HOABG2L

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