06 Nov SOS Earthquake in Nepal

Nepal was hit by a very severe earthquake on Friday, 3 November 2023, particularly affecting the districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West, in the north-west of the country. To date there have been 157 dead, 349 injured, 17.792 homes completely destroyed and another 17.529 damaged. There are 300 damaged schools too. It is already winter here, at night temperatures drop below 5°C and there are tens of thousands displaced people who need safe shelter from the elements. Furthermore, many children risk no longer being able to go to school for some time.

In recent days Emanuele and Nabaraj, from the ASIA staff, were in Shirpachaur, Bayalatole and Balachaur, 3 villages located in very remote areas between the districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West and terribly affected by the earthquake. They assessed the damage suffered by the population and identified the most urgent needs.

The situation is very serious. Almost all houses are permanently damaged, with the entire population currently housed in small tents. As already mentioned, it is already winter here and it is very cold, especially at night, with already serious health risks for the population.

In Shirpachaur, at an altitude of 2200m in the Jajarkot district, the school was seriously damaged and there are around 250 children who cannot attend lessons.

In Bayalatole (1800m), also in Jajarkot, the school was completely destroyed except for one classroom. This village is particularly unfortunate: it is located on a mountainside characterized by strong erosion and agricultural land that is not at all fertile. Agricultural production is sufficient to satisfy only 3 months of food needs of the inhabitants, who are then forced to go to work outside as laborers to be able to support their families. The village of Balachaur in Rukum has seen 15 houses destroyed, fortunately it still has access to the school, but the water system has broken and the lack of water is a serious problem in these conditions.

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READ 👇 THE STATEMENTS FROM EMANUELE ASSINI, DESK PROJECT NEPAL, AND ANDREA DELL’ANGELO, PRESIDENT OF ASIA

STATEMENT DATED  NOVEMBER 14

Today we returned to Kathmandu after approximately 2000 km of travel by car to reach the districts of Jajarkot and Rukum West hit by the earthquake. With a mission lasted 6 days we did a rapid assessment in the villages of Shirpachaur, Bayalatole (both in the Barekot municipality of Jajarkot district, extremely close to the epicenter of the earthquake) and Golchaurtole ( municipality of Sanibheri, Rukum West district), where we slept in outdoor tents to reduce the risks.

The situation in these remote villages is truly serious, almost 90% of the houses have suffered severe structural damage and many homes have collapsed completely. The residents of these remote areas – families of subsistence farmers – are currently all housed in very small tents, with barely the necessary blankets, little food and disastrous hygienic situations, considering that almost all the toilets in the villages have collapsed. There are a total of 341 families.

There are also around 400 students in the villages of Shirpachaur and Bayalatole that cannot continue their shool lessons, since the two village schools were heavily damaged and the earthquake tremors that are continuing make them an unsafe place. There is an absolute need to provide temporary schools for these students, and to provide temporary shelters to all the inhabitants of these villages to ensure refuges, since winter is upon us and two of the three villages are located between 1800 and 2100 meters of altitude.

It should also be highlighted that the support relief intervention from the government and international organizations is extremely lacking. The support is provided only in the villages close to the roads and almost barely in remote areas, where the inhabitants received only one blanket per family and very small plastic sheets, that are not enough to build tents to host the entire families in acceptable conditions. Also the food distributed it is absolutely unsuitable for the sustenance of these people (4 packs of biscuits per family and 2 of instant noodles in the village of Shirpachaur).

The primary need of these families is to have temporary shelters for the winter, bathrooms and temporary schools to allow the children to continue their school lessons, but unfortunately at the moment the humanitarian aid has focused on providing sanitary baskets and second necessities that do not respond to the primary needs of these populations. Furthermore, the government has required adopting the “one door policy,” which advises organizations to distribute relief goods to local governments rather than directly to families. This is creating a hiccup, since local governments are unable to manage everything and there is a very high risk of corruption and preferential use of the goods received.

ASIA team conducted assessments in these 3 villages, which we intend to support in the construction of temporary schools, and, in the immediate future, with the supply of shelters (made up of 12 CGI – Corrugated Galvanized Iron sheets) and tools necessary to set up them (nails, hammers, instructions for drainage ditches, scaffolding poles).

With 300€ it will be possible to provide a family with a temporary shelter kit that will allow these people to survive the winter, while long-term interventions will be planned to guarantee the sustenance of earthquake victims in the post-emergency phase.

Best regards,

Emanuele

STATEMENT DATED  NOVEMBER 8

Dear friends,

here are some updates from the violent earthquake that hit Nepal last weekend, in particular in Rukum West and Jajarkot, remote and mountainous districts in the north-west of the country. To date there have been 157 dead, 349 injured, 17,792 homes completely destroyed and another 17,529 damaged, as well as 300 schools in rubble.

The Nepalese army has set up some temporary camps in Jajarkot, in the most easily accessible areas: 3 in the municipality of Nalagadh (for a total of 60 beds) and 5 in that of Bheri (100 beds in total).
However, no help is arriving in most of the villages, which are instead located in rugged, remote and isolated areas, between 1644 and 3052 meters above sea level. It is already winter here, at night temperatures drop below 5°C and there are over 5000 displaced people who need safe shelter from the elements, many of whom are already experiencing serious health problems due to the cold and frost. Furthermore, many children risk no longer being able to go to school for some time.

ASIA has launched a fundraiser to concretely support families and children affected by the earthquake, which you can join here.

Tomorrow, 9/11, our local staff will go on site to identify villages and families to whom we can distribute temporary shelters of corrugated iron and cooking utensils, to check the state of the school buildings and possibly create temporary schools to give children the opportunity to resume school as soon as possible.

We are truly grateful for the support and for the great participation you are showing us in these days.
See you soon with new updates,

Andrea

STATEMENT DATED  NOVEMBER 3

Dear Friends,