Tag: Emergency-help

In focus: the earthquakes in 2015

On April 25, 2015, Nepal was hit by a severe earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 – the epicenter was only 80 km from the capital Kathmandu. Devastating tremors raged for 90 seconds. People ran outside in panic. Houses, roofs, stairs and walls collapsed. Power cables, masts, water tanks and advertising signs became lethal projectiles. There were landslides in many places. Countless schools, historic buildings and temples as well as roads, bridges and other infrastructure were destroyed. The force of the plate shift was so strong that Kathmandu was shifted three meters to the south. It...

Never dangerous again

The power of the sun protects people and nature A few weeks ago, before the onset of winter in the Mugu mountains, we returned to the small village of Kimri. The project visit was originally planned for spring, but due to the corona crisis we had to postpone our plans to autumn 2020. Good timing, because now the promised solar lighting systems were produced and could be installed by our employees. New attitude towards life When our colleagues approached the village after a two-day walk, they could already see Kimri’s stone houses from some distance, the sun was shining and the colourful...

Kimri on fire

From emergency aid to our largest construction project FIRE! When this call resounds in a remote mountain village, it is clear that it can quickly turn into a catastrophe. It was the same in May 2018 in Kimri, a mountain village in Mugu. A domestic fireplace for cooking turned into a major fire that completely destroyed 19 houses within one day, stole the families’ already meager belongings and burned irreplaceable artefacts of their religious lama culture – some centuries old. 112 people – old people, young people, parents, children, from now on they were all faced with...

COVID-19: the current situation in Nepal

Unfortunately, the developments of the corona pandemic do not stop at Nepal either. As early as January 2020, it was announced that a Nepalese student had been infected in China before returning to Nepal. In the weeks that followed, the number of infections rose rapidly around the world, but initially no further infections were reported in Nepal. The epidemiologist Prof. Dr. Madhav Bhatta of Kent State University in the United States, speaking to us at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, expected the COVID-19 epidemic in Nepal to be more advanced than official statistics suggest. Strict...

Because it can happen again and again – earthquake safety training for teachers

30,000 classrooms collapsed during the devastating 2015 earthquake. The devastating earthquakes of 2015 claimed almost 9,000 deaths in Nepal. But it could have been hundreds of thousands more: The first quake was on a Saturday – the only day off of the week from school. On any other day, the schoolchildren in the 30,000 collapsed classrooms would have been killed by the masonry and the number of victims would have skyrocketed. The earthquake safety training courses aim to ensure that teachers and children are prepared in the event of another disaster. That is why it is important for...

Olympic champion with a heart: Fabian Hambüchen donates a school

Fabian Hambüchen broke all records in his sporting career – today the Olympic champion is one of the most successful athletes in our country. In spring 2016 he was a participant in the ZDF show “I can do that” and won there too. In front of the cameras, he announced that he wanted to donate his prize to Back to Life. We were thrilled and agreed with him to use the sum for the reconstruction of one of the schools in Nuwakot, Nepal, which was destroyed by the 2015 earthquake. In autumn 2017 Stella Deetjen was able to inaugurate the rebuilt “Dakshinkali Primary School”, which...

Nuwakot after the earthquake. We never give up hope

On April 25, 2015, the earth shook in Nepal. There was a severe aftershock on May 12th. Back to Life was there as quickly as possible to provide help where it was worst. Nuwakot became the new project area and is still today. 90 seconds can completely change a life. Like that of the people in Nuwakot, the region in Nepal hardest hit by the earthquake. Thousands of people died, millions were instantly homeless, everything was chaos and in some cases it is still today. Back to Life got involved immediately and achieved a lot to this day. (Editor’s note: see report on the 2015 earthquake) Schools...

Burned down – a new beginning for a family

37-year-old Dhanamaya Chepang lives with her family in one of our project villages in Chitwan in southern Nepal. Dhanamaya has a large family, nine of them live closely together in a small wooden house on the edge of the forest, at the very end of the village of Dhamili. The family has no land to farm. Both Dhanamaya’s husband, Akal Bahadur (48), as well as her eldest son Suresh (19) and his wife Kabita (19) have no education, cannot read or write and work as day laborers. They walk through the neighboring villages every day in search of income in road construction, as porters, they...

Aarati – a twelve-year-old confronts the corona virus

It is June in Dubichaur, a small village in the province of Chitwan, when Aarati suddenly has a fever and the sore throat is getting worse. In these times of closed schools, shops and institutions, the Back to Life teams are regularly out and about in the villages of the project areas and provide the sponsored child families with aid packages, the children with books and monitor the state of health. It quickly becomes clear that Aarati should go to the hospital for a proper examination; she is taken to Narayanu Community Hospital. Since the family is very poor, Back to Life naturally covers...

Books & colored pencils on tour

Our teammates Jhalak (left) and Rimal (right) look after the sponsored children during this difficult time. Schools in Nepal were closed for almost 7 months due to Corona. Online lessons were only offered by expensive private schools. The majority of Nepalese students came away empty-handed. We carried hundreds of books through the mountains for our students. Motivation is important The longer children have to stay away from school and are not motivated to continue learning and reading, the higher the risk of “drop-outs”, i.e. those who drop out of school without graduating....

In conversation with midwife Janaki Karki

1. Can you tell us about the current situation in Gamgadhi? How are people reacting to the pandemic? | The people of Gamgadhi are very concerned. The local government has put in place a curfew to protect society. People’s freedom of movement between the villages is severely restricted and most of the residents stay at home. The markets only open at certain times to offer the most important groceries for sale. Social distancing, hand washing and other hygiene measures are strictly followed. People use masks when they are outside. 2. What fears do you have about the pandemic? | The awareness...

With persistence to success

The difficult procurement of protective clothing for our 26 midwives in Mugu When the corona infections increased in Nepal and the lockdown was repeatedly extended, it was immediately clear to the Back to Life team that we had to react and bring more supplies to the mountains. Sufficient protective clothing for the 13 Mugu’s birth houses was at the top of the list and a true odyssey began. WHERE TO TAKE IT FROM AND HOW TO TRANSPORT? | Protective suits, gloves, masks, shoe covers, disinfectants – when 15 corona infections were confirmed in Nepalgunj on May 3, we were alarmed, because...

How the mountain villages protect themselves from Corona

April 2020: The strict curfew also applies in the Mugu mountains. In our remote project villages, people are trying everything in their power to protect themselves from infection with Corona. All contact between the villages is broken. The village communities stay among themselves. Nobody who comes from outside is allowed in, even if they come from the village. Many Mugali who work as day laborers in Kathmandu or India are now trying to return. Without a daily income they cannot afford to stay in the city. Some run for weeks without a cent in their pockets. The returnees pose a great danger...

Covid-19 prevention – only those who are informed can protect themselves!

In Nepal, hardly anyone spoke about Corona in February 2020, everyday life took its normal course, but the number of cases increased worldwide. In our remote and sometimes difficult to access project areas, the majority of the residents have no access to television, radio or social media to find out about current world events. Many cannot read or write and are already at the limit with the burden of their daily struggle for existence. From mid-February until the state-wide school closings on March 19, we carried out awareness programs at our project schools, the birth centers and in the project...