Bhaktapur, where Sia (9) lives, is now in rubbles due to the earthquake.
"Where there is life, there is hope." - A Nepali proverb
Eleven days have passed since the earthquake in Nepal. More than 7,200 have been counted dead, and more than 14,000 were found injured since May 3rd. But in the midst of these tragic circumstances, stories of hope are arising, as news of a 101-year-old elderly woman being saved was recently released.
World Vision shared stories of the children that were affected by the earthquake on May 5. According to the United Nations, 940,000 children have lost their parents due to the earthquake, and they are in urgent need of relief aid.
Kalpana, an 11-year-old girl who lives in a village a six-hour drive away from Gorkha, was doing housework with her sister when they felt the ground shaking. All of the objects inside the house fell down, and as they tried to come out of the house, the house collapsed, and Kalpana's leg was caught underneath the debris. With the help of the people in the village, she was able to come out of the debris, but her leg was broken, and their home was destroyed. It took four days of waiting for an ambulance to finally arrive and take her to a hospital. Once arriving the hospital, they found that there are 20,000 patients but only 50 beds. Kalpana was able to recover on a temporary cot that was laid on the hospital floor.
Kumari (8), who is staying at the child friendly space in Kathmandu, lost her sister in the earthquake.
"I was sad about losing my books and school materials inside the house," Kalpana said. "And I wonder if my friends are okay, and whether if I would be able to go back to school. I heard that our school building was destroyed."
With some 2.8 million victims from the earthquake, and 16 different camps that have been established for the victims, World Vision has been operating "child friendly spaces" to help children mentally and physically. Lajeshi, who is staying at World Vision's child friendly space in Kathmandu, shared that she becomes very afraid when she remembers the moment she felt the ground shake. She was still traumatized from the fear and the shock of the earthquake. But slowly, she is trying to overcome her fear by surrounding herself with her friends.
"I feel like I've dreamt a really bad dream," Lajeshi said. "But when I play with my friends I feel like I can forget about those bad memories. We'll be able to go back to the way things were, right?"
World Vision has been providing urgent relief needs including waterproof cloth and blankets to the areas affected by the earthquake in Nepal. The organization has also been setting these child friendly spaces in seven different locations including Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Bhaktapur, and plan to open 20 more.
Kalpana (11) broke her leg during the earthquake, and is recovering at a hospital in Gorkha.
"There are immediate emotional needs as well as practical ones. Many children lost everything they knew when the earthquake struck," said Arpanah Rongong, World Vision's Child Protection Specialist in Nepal. "It claimed lives of parents and friends, and reduced homes and schools to rubble."
"Child Friendly Spaces are protected places for children to start coming to terms with this loss, giving them a bit of calm amid the chaos. Young people often start expressing their emotions through artwork, which helps them start to make sense of the devastation around them."
