Reconstruction drive transforms lives of rural Nepali women hit by earthquake

Gorkha [Nepal], January 6 : The devastating earthquake of 2015 with its epicentre in the mountainous Gorkha district shook the Himalayan Nation of Nepal, claiming nearly 10,000 lives, injuring thousands and displacing over half a million people.
Hundreds of families were forced to sleep under the open sky and in a temporary settlement that was full of dangers. As a large number of houses were to be built in a short span of time and the rainy season was approaching followed by winter, the reconstruction drive was going on slowly.
Madhu is one of the local Gorkha women who is now a certified trained mason produced during reconstruction drive funded by the Government of India and undertaken by UNDP.
Madhu Maya Sunar burst into tears when she remembered her bygone days and said, "I lost my father and mother at an early age. I reeled under days of scarcity and took shelter at my maternal house. I also got married and at that time I hadn't got any skills. After my parents were gone, I didn't have a single penny to buy a piece of cloth either."
"But then I realized that I should do something, living in days of scarcity and deprivation should not continue, children also should go to schools, fulfil their demands as well as keep the kitchen fires burning. Then a sense of determination grew in my mind and then I decided to work along with male co-workers: I am no less in comparison to them. I was confident of doing anything and the (mason) training gave it a push."
She was able to overcome prejudices that a woman should work only at home. She went around various locations and earned for her family which brought a string of changes in her status.
"Those who used to sideline me for knowing nothing now go around mentioning that I have got the skills required at construction sites and am not less than male counterparts. Depending on the situation and timing, I sometimes go to work on the site, sometimes I don't," Madhu added with a smile on her face.
The reconstruction drive, which went on from March 2018 to December 2021 in Gorkha, was able to produce over 6,842 masons out of which 424 were women who played a pivotal role in the reconstruction process locally.
Being one of the trained female masons Madhu actively took part in the reconstruction of her neighbour's house, a few steps away from hers.
"I am really happy and feel good that women also can really bring on the changes and work on these fields," Maya Devi Sunar, the beneficiary whose house was built in active participation of masons like Madhu told ANI.
Maya added, "Females previously didn't use to get engaged in these sort of fields earlier but now they have started working on it also after they got the training."
Madhu worked along with other male masons after attending training provided by UNDP Nepal which has undertaken the Nepal Housing Reconstruction Project funded by the Government of India in 2019.
The available human resource for reconstruction also was semi-skilled and technically there were a lot of flaws in their work but the training provided under the Nepal Housing Reconstruction Project fortified them to correct their weaknesses.
"Our support was to how to utilize the local materials and sources and how one person's capacity to carry entire one house building material that consists of all the essentials and then utilizing all local as well as salvage materials they have lost during the earthquake. So that was what we have been advocating and generating awareness amongst the community as well as the beneficiaries," Deepak Tripathi, one of the consultants who worked as a consultant from SEEDS Technical Services- Disaster Management Consultant told ANI.
After the earthquake of 2015 and calming of the earth in later days reconstruction drive kick-started in the Himalayan Nation which already bore a loss amounting to NPR 706 Billion, equivalent to 7 Billion USD. Though there was a scarcity of manpower for reconstruction, the increment of women's participation in the bid came over the appalling situation. This also helped them in improving the economic status of their own and less dependent on others to fulfil their needs and desires.
"The economic condition was really poor. I used to get a daily wage of about 200 to 50 Nepali rupees through the works done in the field. After getting this training, my wage got increased also got to travel around along with other brothers which boosted my confidence. It has brought a lot of changes in the day to day experience," Madhu Maya said.
Equal to male companions, Madhu now gets a daily wage of Nrs. 800 whenever she signs up for construction of houses or goes around for work.
The Government of India supported the construction of 50,000 houses in Gorkha (26912 beneficiaries) and Nuwakot (23088 beneficiaries) districts of Nepal. The GoI appointed UNDP and UNOPS as socio-technical facilitation consultants for Gorkha and Nuwakot district respectively in March 2018.
The Indian Government had committed US$1 Billion for the reconstruction of Nepal in form of grants and a Line of Credit. US$ 150 million was allocated for reconstruction in the housing sector, US$ 100 million as a grant and US$ 50 million to be drawn from Line of Credit.