How do we rebuild? what will work? what its important? where do we start?
Last week was tough for the
team, heat, exhaustion and torrential rain hindered our efficiency. Not only
that but we are all struggling to come to terms with how to deal with the
enormity of the task at hand...we are not earthquake rescue experts...mostly just people trying to help. We are all learning by doing, by networking and by sharing.
Providing the people with
food and medical needs was the easy part. Now we must start the huge task of
getting people shelter.
Here is the information we
have collected so far from the Sikhra Besi Zone. We are working village by
village and this time around have taken food coupons to help with food distribution. We plan to distribute
food ration every 2 weeks to each household with VDC's(Village Development Committees) on a rotation pattern as
our transport load is 4 tonne.
A Standard Ration to feed a
family of 5(Average) is:-
15kg Rice
2kg Dhal
2kg Soya Product
1kg Salt
1lt Oil
Initially, with our first distribution most households also got Tarps, rope, medical aid and Pius (Water Purification) where needed on top of food rations.
(The village has some items
to supplement like Maize Flour, Potatoes, Ghundruk(Dried Spinach), Milk and Eggs which they
are producing themselves).
VDC 5 (64 houses) & VDC 6 (143 houses) – near to
base camp: Aid status - Medical Stable (Evacs provided on the 10th May but
Bhutanese Helicopters) Food will be rationed today (11th May)
VDC 7 – (70 houses): Aid status – Supplied
two weeks as of 01/05/15 . Medical Need Stable ( 2 people need evacuation but
are refusing)
VDC 8 – (115 houses): Aid status – Supplied two
weeks as of 08/05/15. Medical Need Stable
VDC 9 – (87 houses): Aid
status – Supplied two weeks as of 04/05/15. Medical Need Stable
VDC 3 & 4 We will be assessing this week as they are very remote
VDC 2 & 1 Have good road access and are deemed Ok at the moment. CARNN organization has given food assistance here last week.
WHAT IS THE COST OF FOOD
SUPPORT.
Just for food it costs us
around USD$2000 per trip to the village, which includes 2 weeks supply of food, vehicle costs and local expenses.
We estimate we need to make
5 trips a month which is a total cost of US$15,000 just to supply food.
If you are wondering
what your generous donations provide here is a break down of how little money it costs to supplement a family for two weeks.
30 kg of Rice – 1200NPR (US$12)
4 kg of Dhal - 85NPR per kg (US$3.40)
1kg of Salt -18NPR (US$.18)
1lt of Oil - 1150NPR per 10 liters (US$1.15)
2kg of Soy Product – 60NPR Per Kg (US$1.20)
Total Outlay per household: US$17.50. So even a donations of US$20 will
feed a family for two weeks...
We estimate that we will
need to support the village with food for the next 6 months. We are working on
the hope that our supply will overtime decrease and their local production will
increase eventually returning the village back to its self sufficient state.
REBUILDING COSTS.
Rebuilding is a huge task
and to be frank, something we can never afford on this extent. So how are we
helping? (Project Shelter commences from Today -11th May)
- Providing Materials and
Manpower to create Semi Permanent Shelters sufficient for the coming monsoon and winter
- Helping to make the area
safe and to Salvage what we can use
- Advising and Assisting with the Construction of toilets and sanitation.
- Helping the villagers to
be aware of what monetary assistance the Government will give them and helping
them to apply for such funds(Villagers are very uneducated and the Government
is not being very forthcoming to rural areas...Money is there, we need to help
the villagers to get it).
We also do plan to fund total rebuilding of the Schools in the area and extra things like proper toilets, Solar Energy and Environmental Sustainability making the village better and more efficient than before. To be able to do this we will need long term funding and the right connections and approvals from community groups, other aid organizations and of-course the Politicians of the area...Its a huge task...
The Entire NCRR Team would like to thank you all for your ongoing support and helping us to rebuild lives.
Rice and Supplies...its an endless job at the moment |
Locals help out at base camp. Team work is essential. |
This is what 4 tonne of rice and supplies looks like. |
Handing out vital food at the local level. The gratitude of the locals is rewarding. |
The NCRR Team |
We plan to salvage beams and tin for rebuilding shelters. |
Rajkumar helping with the distribution. We now have a coupon system to make it easier in the long term |
Thank you so much for your Support. |