Khem Aryal in Bhadaure Tamagi village
Nanumaya Adhikari is lucky to be alive. In late May 2006, the very heavily-pregnant Nepalese woman knew something was wrong. She felt ill and could not eat. So her aunt, a midwife, was called. The women tried to get a bus or a taxi to take them from their mountain village of Bhadaure Tamagi in Kaski district in western Nepal to a clinic in the city of Pokhara. But it was too late.
“The bus arrived as my baby was being born. The baby was alive but came out feet-first and it took five minutes for the head to be delivered. The baby died. I would have died too, if my aunt had not been there.”
Every year in Nepal, an estimated 35,000 women and children die due to unsafe childbirth and neonatal practices, according to this year’s World Disasters Report, which focuses on neglected crises and is launched today (14 December). This silent tragedy, which has claimed over 25 times more lives than Nepal’s long-running internal conflict, goes virtually unnoticed.
In 2006, the World Disasters Report, an annual, independent report commissioned by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, calls for such humanitarian crises that are hidden by politics or culture to be exposed in time to help people. It argues that people are missing out on humanitarian aid because no journalists report on them, no donors are interested in them, no agencies have assessed their needs, or because their governments ignore them.
Nanumaya, who has a three-year-old son, says money for health care would have given her baby a chance. Her husband, Purnakhar Adhikari, a TV repairman, feels helpless. “I told her to go to a hospital if she had any problem. I used to tell her not to worry about money, but she knew I had no money.”
Shiv Gautam, 13, who also lives in Bhadaure Tamagi village, has his own story to tell. His mother died one month after Shiv was born. His father later married Shiv’s aunt. Standing in the grounds of the village school, Shiv, who dreams of becoming a teacher, doctor or pilot, describes his life.
“We have to work all the time at home. We do not get any time for studies. We have to cut grass and take care of the buffalo and the field. We are very poor. Our father does not earn much. Our aunt always scolds and beats us. My sister and I have to do a lot of work.”
After giving birth to Shiv, his mother was sick.
“They did not take her to hospital because my grandfather thought it was better to buy a buffalo with the money than take her to hospital. So my mother died.”
His step-mother remembers how hard it was to suddenly gain two young children to look after. “I was too young. It was very difficult for me to look after them. I had to get up, warm buffalo milk and feed the children, even at night.”
Nearby lives Chandrakanti Poudel, 76, who struggles to take care of her two young grandchildren whose mother died a month after giving birth in the mountains.
“There was nothing to give the children. I used to prepare a kettle of tea and feed the child as her mother’s milk.”
As well as examining maternal and child health in Nepal, in 2006 the World Disasters Report has chapters on hunger in Malawi, vulnerability in Guatemala, boat migrants attempting to reach Europe, humanitarian aid trends, gender in emergencies, and key trends and statistics.