Sushila Khatri - Earthquake Survivor
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Authors
Laura Walker
Issue Date
2016-04
Type
Language
en
Keywords
Disasters
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Abstract
Sushila Khatri is 26 years old and lives in the small village of 80 people called Airi in Nepal. She has two sons, 8 years old and 10 months old. Water is a priority for her community. Their natural spring has almost dried up. The local reservoir, which was the water source has been affected by the earthquake and has changed the water direction. There is little water left and it has affected the flow to villages. Before the earthquake they had a natural spring that they could use for drinking water, cooking and cleaning. This now only fills a canister every 8 hours. They now have to walk 2kms every day to get water they need. She was in her house when the earthquake hit. Luckily she wasn’t injured as she just managed to get out as the 2nd storey collapsed. She was heavily pregnant and had her son a month after the earthquake. She was “sick with worry” following the earthquake and it was very difficult for her to get to hospital to give birth because the roads were so treacherous (landslides etc). She said she received relief of Tarpaulin within 7 days but didn’t get any other help until after 15 days after the earthquake. She had to “dig through rubble to find food”. She lived in a shelter under tarpaulin for two weeks and now lives in a temporary shelter made of wood and corrugated iron. She cooks in the ground level of her (unsafe) home. Her husband works in India. It is very common for men to have to travel abroad to get work. They send money home to their family. Often households are headed by women in their absence. Her husband returned to Nepal after the news of the earthquake but has had to return now so he can send money back to the family so they can survive. Her eight year old son is attending a boarding school in Gorkha so he can receive a good education. It costs 9,000 rupees a month for his fees (approx. £83) and this is paid with money provided by her husband working in India. She sees her soon once a month and her husband returns home twice a year. She is “very worried about the scarcity of water and hopes this will be available in the future”. “She lives in constant fear, even if she has an earthquake resistant house”. “I dream of a paved road, a regular water supply and a good school for my children”.
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