It’s been 109 days since the first big earthquake in Nepal, and I’d love to be able to say that things are back to normal. To those whose house / business/school was not damaged, life is more or less back to normal. To those who do not have to travel outside of their comfort zone in unaffected parts, life is as it was. To those who do not have to walk through rubble of some sort, be it in urban centres or rural villages, life has gone on.

The initial worldwide media frenzy and coverage has long died down, even the Nepali papers are back to the normal politics and sports as well as ongoing coverage of the promise of reconstruction & rehabilitation. But so many are still living in fear, sleeping under tarpaulin sheets, afraid to go to school lest something may happen again.

About 2 weeks ago, Nagarhope Nepal members took a trip to Rural parts of Sindhuli, Ramechhaap and Dolakha districts to search for schools that had been damaged and may need assistance. A second follow up visit is underway where we have initiated a schools assistance programme based on the individual needs of each school. A total of close to 30 schools will benefit from this programme in the first phase. We have not been offering much, have not offered to rebuild their schools, but have only offered a small amount of assistance to improve the situation temporarily.

Schools have asked us to help with repairing toilets, fixing drinking water sources damaged or totally lost, assisting students by providing school bags or uniforms, in some cases constructing TLCs (Temporary Learning Centres) to schools which do not have enough classrooms.

Each school must submit a proposal to Nagarhope along with costs of repair / reconstruction along with a letter of confirmation from the local VDC (Village Development Committee), after which we will start to fund each project.

Initially we had visited rural Parts to see if the need for TLCs was apparent, but schools seem to be mainly suffering from a lack of clean water and sanitation facilities. It has transpired that those in need do not always require what it is you have to offer them. So each school has been given the initiative and the incentive to improve their situation based on their immediate needs.

Attached are random photographs of some of the schools we have visited, over the coming weeks, these photographs will (hopefully) be replaced by photographs of operational toilets, drinking water taps, children carrying books in new schoolbags as opposed to their hands.

We, through our Nepali committee and with the support of villagers, have also initiated some water programmes in various villages around the Nagarkot area. Villagers are busy helping lay piping and fit tanks, ensuring clean drinking water for numerous houses and families in their areas. This project will also continue. Many clean drinking water sources just disappeared after either the first or the second earthquake, and locals have been struggling to find clean water, in some cases having to walk an extra hour just to get clean drinking water.

I would like to thank all those who have helped us and supported us to date. The funding that has come in for relief and reconstruction is helping small communities and schools in small ways, but is a step towards the next stage when permanent structures and permanent solutions replace the temporary works that are going on in a core of 20 of the worst hit districts.

Mise le Meas

Fachtna ‘Doc’ Clandillon

August 12^th 2015

Bhaktapur