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Manila, 25 May 2015 – One month after a devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, Habitat for Humanity will soon start construction of permanent houses.
“We will begin building the first 100 permanent homes in the heavily damaged district of Kavre in the next two weeks,” said Rick Hathaway, Asia-Pacific vice president, Habitat for Humanity. “This is just a first step. In the coming months, subject to securing funding, we aim to rebuild thousands of homes in Nepal.”
Since the disaster struck, Habitat for Humanity has mobilized hundreds of volunteers and staff to remove rubble and earthquake debris left from damaged and destroyed homes in affected communities. Salvage of materials from this process can support future reconstruction efforts.
“Getting families into permanent homes as soon as possible is critical and crucial to Nepal’s recovery”, continued Hathaway. “In conjunction with starting construction of permanent housing, Habitat for Humanity will be distributing temporary shelter kits to affected families. These kits contain materials that can be reused for permanent house construction at a later stage.”
The earthquake of 25 April and the following magnitude-7.4 earthquake on 12 May damaged or destroyed more than 750,000 homes in Nepal, according the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Thousands of people in Nepal continue to sleep outdoors, fearful that unstable structures may collapse from further aftershocks. These families will be even more vulnerable when the monsoon season arrives in Nepal.
Habitat for Humanity’s temporary shelter kits contain materials such as corrugated galvanized iron roofing, steel tubing, re-enforcing rods, fixings and tools. An estimated 5,000shelter kits are planned for distribution in the next two months.
Habitat for Humanity has already started distributing water backpacks to displaced families, used to facilitate transport of drinking water from wells and other sources. This effort will continue in the coming weeks.
Donate to help rebuild Nepal - habitat.org/donate/nepal.
Planned before the earthquakes struck Nepal, the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project will continue in Pokhara, 1-6 November 2015. For 31 years, former US President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, have given a week of their time to help Habitat for Humanity build homes, advocate and raise awareness of poverty housing issues in countries around the world.
