Gamcha is a small cluster of ultra-poor communities at Kirtipur, situated about 10 km south-west from Kathmandu. The place has been hard-hit by the earthquake of 25th and 26th April 2015. In total, over 35 households have been fully damaged in the core settlement of Gamcha (Tallo Gamcha and Mathillo Gamcha) out of around 60 households in the core settlement. Mrs Chandra Maharjan is one of the beneficiaries of the temporary shelter supported by UN-Habitat.
Gamcha is a small cluster of ultra-poor communities at Kirtipur, situated about 10 km south-west from Kathmandu. The place has been hard-hit by the earthquake of 25th and 26th April 2015. In total, over 35 households have been fully damaged in the core settlement of Gamcha (Tallo Gamcha and Mathillo Gamcha) out of around 60 households in the core settlement. Mrs Chandra Maharjan is one of the beneficiaries of the temporary shelter supported by UN-Habitat.
Like other children Rohan Maharjan is also a victim andthough his school reopened, there was no place in his home for himfor his studies. He is 14 years old boy studying in class 6 at Bal KumariMadhamikVidhyalaya, Kirtipur. But after CIUD helped his mother build a temporary shelter, he says “now I am able to do my studies more comfortably than before. Previously our stay was very congested, but now it is cooler with wider space.
Mrs Chandra’s leg is fractured and she was operated with steel plate in her foot. As her family’s economic status is very poor, she also does labour works to earn money. She looks after all the family. Referring to the shelter support provided to her, she says “Everything is better than earlier. Earlier after the earthquake destroyed our house, we lived in a very small space covered with tarpaulins and old CGI sheets.
But with support from CIUD, we built new one, in which we also used few bamboos and old CGIs that we already had. So now our new space is larger and safer. We have place a door space, so now we can lock the house and go to the work. My small girl of 18 months has big space to play inside and my boy is happy to do his studies more comfortably. One evening, when we were living in our previous place, my boy was doing his homework and it started raining. All his copies and books got wet. He felt very sad. But now the roof is not leaking.”
She thanked for the wise support of CIUD and its donor partner, too. She also recalls the water and sanitation related support CIUD provided in her community. And we urge; we continue to work with and work for these needy people.