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23 August 2002 Bijoy Patro in Kathmandu, Nepal The latest in a series of landslides caused by heavy monsoon rains and floods, has left at least 100 people missing, feared dead in Nepal. More than 500 people have died in this year's monsoon with most of the casualties caused by landslides. The Nepal Red Cross is at the forefront of rescue and relief operations in the country with its volunteers often being the only people able to reach remote mountainous communities. Nima Jangwo Sherpa had never known a natural disaster till a month ago. Had he ever experienced a flood or a drought? Or an earthquake? "No," replies the 53-year-old Sherpa, shaking his head from left to right and back four times to emphasise how peaceful his life was before the morning of July 28 when a landslide composed of, mud, boulders, trees and other mountain debris, destroyed his house. His was an ancestral home. His grandfather, and his great grandfather lived here before him. Nima cannot say how many generations had lived in that house. All he can say is that as mountain people, they only knew how to live high above on the mountains. So high, that you could see the clouds below. Over the years, the family would pool all their resources to maintain the house. So when the house was in dire need of repairs six year ago, Nima and his son Purva, trekked for four days to Kullu in India to work as daily wage labourers. They worked six years and saved about 60,000 Nepali rupees to repair the dilapidated house. The family would farm and harvest about 360 kilos of maize and about the same amount of millet. The two buffaloes would provide the family with milk. This was sufficient to see the large family through the year. The Sherpas have a fierce sense of pride and Nima is no exception. If he needed anything for which he didn't have sufficient money, Nima and Purva would take tourists trekking deep into the Himalayas. Or do odd jobs if there were no tourists. But they never asked for help. If they needed a large sum of money, they'd go out to work as daily wage earners in India. But everything changed at 4.30 in the morning on July 28 when a landslide crushed their home. All their belongings lay buried under its debris. Nima's grandchildren have no books to go to school with. "They enjoyed going down the hill and then over another, trekking for two hours to reach the school. But they have no books now and do not want to go," Nima says. The family and its herd of cattle managed to survive the landslide, but with no shelter, they were exposed to the harsh elements of the Himalayas. But Nima Jangwo Sherpa and his family are among those that the Nepal Red Cross has been able to provide with a family kit consisting of a tarpaulin that will serve as a makeshift roof over their heads, kitchen utensils to cook food with, clothes, candles, water purification tablets and blankets. There were 32 families that had arrived to collect the relief supplies at one distribution organised by the Nepal Red Cross at Melamchi. All were affected by the recent spate of landslides in the Himalayas. Their houses were destroyed by mud and boulders. Many like Pemba Sherpa had family members who had been injured and needed medical treatment as well as shelter and other relief supplies. This was the worst moment in their lives. They would never walk for hours to receive aid. As Nima Jangwo Sherpa says, "It is so embarrassing to ask for help." Throughout Nepal, the Red Cross has been at the forefront of reaching relief to the communities affected by the floods and landslides that hit 46 out of the 75 districts of the Himalayan kingdom. The Nepal Red Cross is the only organisation that has an extensive network of volunteers that can reach remote communities. Many volunteers were involved in rescuing people from the debris of their homes. Many more were involved in getting relief to those that needed it - not just for the Red Cross but also for other non-governmental organizations. Much of this work entailed walking days on end over the rough Himalayan terrain. "Volunteers had to trek for five days to reach villages the affected villages for an assessment of the needs. Then they had to trek back for five days," says Eelko Brouwer, Federation Disaster Response Delegate for South Asia. "What is amazing is that they did this with no equipment. No backpack, no torch lights, no water bottle. No nothing. Often, the best footwear was just a pair of rubber slippers." However, supplies are running low in Nepal Red Cross warehouses and the monsoon usually continues until the end of September. The International Federation launched an appeal 1.6 million US dollars for victims of floods and landslides in Nepal this month in order to continue providing relief supplies in the coming months. "People know that the soil has absorbed all the water it could from the rains and can no longer hold any more," says Bob McKerrow, Federation Regional Head of Delegation in South Asia. "A fresh spell of rain could aggravate the situation. The floods and landslides of the past month would seem a pale shadow of the floods in such an event. So could the humanitarian impact of the disaster." And it is not just homes and buildings that are being destroyed. Floodwaters have destroyed paddy fields and are eroding land, making it that much more difficult to rehabilitate farming communities. Many homes, made of mud or clay, have dissolved in standing floodwater and with no straw or thatch from the fields to make a roof with, people are finding it even harder to make a new shelter. Related links 12 Aug 2002 - Nepal Red Cross leading flood relief operations 16 Jul 2002 - Nepal Red Cross respond to landslide tragedy Emergency Appeal More on Nepal |
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