Nepal Earthquake Relief
April 2015 – May 2024
Last Updated: March 2024
All Hands and Hearts’ (AHAH) earthquake relief work in Nepal began in 2015 after two devastating earthquakes struck the country. AHAH was on the ground assisting affected regions just days after the first earthquake hit. Since then, we have supported rural communities’ long-term educational needs across Nepal, completing 26 school rebuilds and one community health center. Now, the team is in Hariharpurgadhi restoring the Shree Bhanubhakta Secondary School, our 27th school rebuild.
Find the details about volunteering on AHAH’s school rebuild program here.
Our Work
AHAH is continuing its earthquake relief work in Nepal and aiming to complete its 27th school rebuild by March 2024. The Shree Bhanubhakta Secondary School, damaged by the 2015 earthquakes, serves over 250 students and 13 teachers. Currently, students are being taught in undersized Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS), established as a provisional measure after the earthquake. With inadequate space, classes are additionally taught in damaged and unsafe school buildings. Utilizing earthquake-resilient and environmentally sustainable compressed stabilized earth brick technology, AHAH will work alongside the local community to provide two new school buildings consisting of six classrooms.
At All Hands and Hearts, we recognize sustainable disaster relief is more than the physical structures. Alongside the school rebuild, we will provide training on Child Protection, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). We will also continue our Female Mason Training Project, introduced in 2017, to train local women in resilient construction skills to expand their economic resources and provide social and economic empowerment.
Current Activities
The team has been making significant progress in rebuilding Shree Bhanubhakta Secondary School. The two disaster-resilient buildings are near completion, and the playground and landscaping are underway. Not only will students have a safe place to learn, but they will have an engaging outdoor area to play in.
In the last month, students, teachers and parents attended three sessions on WASH, which discussed the importance of handwashing and personal hygiene. At the Menstrual Hygiene Management workshop, students from grades eight and nine were invited to attend two sessions to gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to support girls and women in managing their menstrual health effectively.
Disaster Profile
On April 25, 2015, a 7.8 earthquake hit Nepal near the capital city of Kathmandu; the worst in more than 80 years. Sadly, over 9,000 people lost their lives, a further 23,000 were injured and there was major destruction of homes and infrastructure. The earthquake resulted in more than 5,000 schools being damaged or completely destroyed. On May 12, 2015, a second 7.3 earthquake struck the country, causing further devastation and loss of lives.
Female Mason Training: Livelihoods, Gender Equality and Disaster Risk Reduction
Our Female Mason Training Program was piloted at Kakaling School from January to July 2017. Malati, one of the trainees, told us that she liked working with people from all over the world. She feels “like I am treated equally by everyone [at AHAH], even though I am a woman.” Previously, when a government engineer showed up in the community to train homeowners how to rebuild earthquake- safe homes, Malai had tried to participate, but stopped when community members made fun of her. Now, she says, she has proof to show her neighbors that she can do the work.
The Female Mason Training Program trains Nepali women in earthquake resilient construction skills as a way to improve their economic situation and provides social and economic empowerment while playing an integral role in rebuilding a more resilient Nepal. A professional Nepali mason is in charge of teaching disaster resilient building methods and trainees work in rural communities to rebuild primary and secondary schools or clinics. At the end of the program, our in-country partner facilitates the program graduates in becoming certified, which helps them acquire fairly paid employment in the future. Through subsequent jobs, program graduates then become agents for disseminating disaster-resilient construction methods in the region.
Program History
Response Projects
Kathmandu, Nuwakot and Sindhupalchok, April 2015
72 hours after the first earthquake struck in April 2015, we were on the ground assisting affected communities. We launched two response programs, one in Kathmandu and the other in Sindhupalchok. Across both projects, a total of 104 debris sites were cleared and 13 damaged homes were safely brought down. We built 50 transitional homes in Melamchi (Sindhupalchowk), 15 transitional homes in Kagati (Nuwakot) and 35 transitional homes in Hulchowk (Kathmandu) addressing the short-term needs of disaster affected households. 12 community shelters were built to provide safe structures for communities to come together and 21 disaster-resilient homes were rebuilt. In response to the devastation of many schools in the area, 23 temporary learning centers were built and repaired in order to restart educational activities.
Happy Hearts Fund School Rebuilds
Prior to the merger of Happy Hearts Funds, USA (HHF) to All Hands and Hearts, HHF rebuilt four schools in Nepal in the Nuwakot District: Shree Mahendra Higher Secondary School, Shree Birendra Secondary School, Shree Niranjana Higher Secondary School and Shree Mahendra Secondary School. Across the four school rebuilds, 47 classrooms were constructed and this work impacted a total of 1,536 students.