Nepal Earthquake Relief
April 2015 – April 2024
Last Updated: May 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, impacting 29 schools and one community health center. The team has just completed its work in Hariharpurgadhi, restoring the 29th school in the country, Shree Bhanubhakta Secondary School.
Find the details about volunteering on AHAH’s school rebuild program here.
Our Work
AHAH continued its earthquake relief work in Nepal by completing the reconstruction of another school in April 2024. The Shree Bhanubhakta Secondary School, damaged by the 2015 earthquakes, serves over 250 students and 13 teachers. Students were being taught in undersized Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS), established as a provisional measure after the earthquake. With inadequate space, classes were additionally taught in damaged and unsafe school buildings.
Current Activities
AHAH has officially completed work at Shree Bhanubhakta Secondary School and handed it over to the community, marking the completion of our 29th school impacted in Nepal. Utilizing earthquake-resilient and environmentally sustainable compressed stabilized earth brick technology, AHAH has worked alongside the local community to provide two new school buildings consisting of six classrooms, offering a safe and comfortable learning environment for over 250 students and 13 teachers.
AHAH’s on-the-ground presence in Nepal meant going beyond the school rebuild, to actively work on new solutions in response to the local community’s needs. While addressing water scarcity challenges, the team went beyond the initial scope of work to install a new water well and biosand filtration system to provide year-round water security for the school, in collaboration with our local partner Relief Nepal.
Our staff and volunteers concluded trainings in Child Protection, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), which took place throughout the program in partnership with Relief Nepal. DRR training informed the community on construction methods and best practices to continue maintenance and administration for the new disaster-resilient school and facilities. We also continued 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. AHAH hopes to continue our presence in Nepal until there is no further need for our support.
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
All Hands and Hearts (AHAH) piloted the Female Mason Training Program in 2017, with the goal of training Nepali women in earthquake-resilient construction skills as a means of improving their economic situation.
The program has since provided social and economic empowerment while playing an important role in rebuilding a more resilient Nepal. Professional Nepali masons are in charge of teaching disaster-resilient building methods to the women, and trainees work in rural communities to rebuild primary and secondary schools or clinics. Our in-country partner assists graduates in obtaining mason certification, paving the way for them to secure fairly paid employment in the future. Through their subsequent jobs, program graduates then become agents for disseminating disaster-resilient construction methods in the region.
Sita, a program trainee, told us that since working with AHAH, she feels more financially secure and organized in her life. The Female Mason Training Program offered the opportunity to gain skills and access to education in a realm usually reserved for men. After the devastating impact of the 2015 earthquakes in her country, Sita recognized the significance of teamwork and the idea of “many hands making light work”. Additionally, Sita noted the benefits earned from women partaking in work traditionally done by men – when women and men work alongside each other “even the most difficult work becomes manageable”.
Listen to Sita’s story below.
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.
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