At Women’s Foundation Nepal, we have always tried to be sensitive to the particular needs and suffering that women and girls face in the ongoing disruption after the earthquakes. When we learned that pregnant women were without proper food and water, and that women were giving birth and nursing their newborn in flimsy, temporary shelters without clothes, bedding or support, this inspired us to set up the Program for Pregnant Women and New Mothers that we now run in Kathmandu.

But, while we continue to work in the most affected areas to provide earthquake relief, we often see pregnant women and new mothers with their infants, so we also provide special services for them out in the field. Today we learned about a group of pregnant women in Manmaiju. These women are really struggling. Conditions following the earthquakes have made life very difficult for them and their families.

There are 48 pregnant women and a newly born baby in Manmaiju. We distributed 1 sack of rice weighing 30kg to each of their families and clothes for them. We provided a mosquito net and towel for each family and consulted with them about the importance of cleanliness. Relief aid had come to the place before, but it is finished till date. They got 30Kg which will feed a big family for some time.
Women’s Foundation Nepal sends a Huge and Heartfelt Thank You!! to all our supporters and friends. Your open handed help has been so important to WFN’s capacity to respond quickly during the Nepal Earthquake calamity! There are still thousands of Nepali people affected by this disaster who continue to need our help.

On behalf of the Women’s Foundation and our broader Nepali community, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your ongoing support at this difficult time.

WFN families have the special celebration,Name giving day for our new born family. As our country is multi ethnic and religious country. So we have our own way to celebrate for the new born baby according to the concern caste. There are 9 new kids. So today in the morning we have a big pooja, Child naming ceremony at the shelter home (worship) for these rituals. Priest gave the new name to the baby. so the child have her\his own identity in this world.

All the women look so happy their charming and smiley face was glowing and glowing with their new baby in their laps. In a words they said” we don’t have the words to express, we have never thought that in this hard time also they supports us and gave this opportunity with the rituals. We have almost forget about this because it was impossible for us . But WFN made this possible and we are so much thankful for our new Family (wfn)”

This time a team from Child Haven International also joined with WFN to bring emergency supplies and medical help for struggling villages. We left the office at 9:00am with trucks of emergency supplies and a medical team for the Nuwakot District ,Okharpauwa VDC ward no 5. In this village 100%of the buildings have collapsed. All the people in this area are of discriminated caste, Dalit, and very poor and needy people. The villages of these hilly areas that have suffered so badly from the earthquakes are now at very great risk from rock slides as aftershocks continue every day.

We responded to all the many difficulties in the village and distributed aid to 213 displaced families, which included a 25 kg sack of rice for each family, clothes for children and cloths that women could wrap themselves in, lungis. We also brought first aid medicines and were able to dress the simpler wounds of the people. Each time we come to a community now, we teach them about the importance of cleanliness, common diseases and sanitation. We also distributed sanitary items(toothbrush, soap, paste, dressing materials etc). Illness is still a great problem for the people, living crowded together in temporary shelters and exposed to all elements. Taking into consideration drinkable water will soon become a major problem, we also gave the village a water filter, which was installed in their school.

The people also suffer from ongoing, relentless stress. Living in such precarious conditions, sharing tents with many families, worried about food and sickness, and with no end in sight, this is so very disheartening. Constant aftershocks bring with them continuing fears of landslides. But even in the midst of such difficulty, the people are a source of inspiration to us. They are resilient, they want to overcome these hardships and they have an amazing spirit of working together, helping each other as they can.

The people of village welcomed both of our teams with tears in their eyes. They take so much comfort and support from knowing that we came to help and that people around the world want to help them. They are doing their best to survive this terrible situation. Now is the time for all of us to UNITE together and reach out with love and support.

There are still many more villages like Okharpauwa, and many more months of struggle ahead before people can start to rebuild their lives.

Please spread the word. Re-post and ask your friends to “like” our Facebook updates. Lets gather as many people as we can to reach out and help.

Wonderful news! WFN’s school in Kathmandu has reopened and classes are running smoothly. We have set up the school with temporary tents to keep students safe from any danger posed by aftershocks. Parents trust that our school will keep their children safe, so they are sending the students back to class.

We begin each day with counseling for all the students. The children are given opportunity to feel safe about talking about fears and trauma caused by the earthquakes and the continuing aftershocks. The children still have many fears because Nepal continues to experience shocks of up to 4.8 magnitude. Teachers and staff are doing their very best to build an environment of openness and safety so that students can start to concentrate on their studies again.

WFN is committed to this process of making the school more comfortable and open for the students and their parents because every child’s second home is their school. They spent more than 50% of their time at school. This is a special trust and responsibility WFN believes we have to build a better future for children.

Dear Friends,
We have such heartrending news. The brother of WFN Business Manager, Anupama Mahat, and our dear friend, died in a helicopter crash while delivering emergency relief aid to Sindhupalchowk District. Dr. Sandip Mahat, along with 2 other Nepali colleagues and a doctor from the Netherlands, had been returning to Kathmandu after providing medical care to people still suffering from the devastation of the two earthquakes, April 25 and May 12.The helicopter crashed at 4:40pm, June 2, after it hit electricity lines, in a forested area on Yamuna Danda hill near Balefi village.
All of us at Women’s Foundation are so terribly heartbroken. Just before the accident ,Sandip was in our office with his group. Women’s Foundation Nepal will feel his loss deeply. Dr. Mahat had two small daughters aged 1 and 7 years. He was only 38 years old. The loss of this talented, committed and generous doctor and father will be sorely felt by his family, his colleagues and by the nation.
Our deepest sympathy goes out to Anupama and her family.We wish God give strength to her family to overcome the grief.

Today our WFN Team reached out to people in the worst affected areas nearby Kathmandu. The houses there were either completely or partly destroyed so as to be unlivable.Although it was near to the capital, this is still a poor area and lacking in most necessities. Many people living in this area are very poor and of discriminated caste.
The people of this caste are vilified by society; they have been systematically neglected and very little relief has made its way to them. With a lots of struggle, they got some relief items but there was no place for them to stay. They were provided some food to eat but no place to stay as there were very few tents in the relief supplies and the places near their houses were impossible to stay because of the remains of their broken houses ready to collapse any time. One of our staff told us of the pathetic conditions of these people who are suffering not only from the ravages of the earthquake, but now suffering again from an unjust system of society.
WFN decided to provide the people with corrugated steel roofing so they could make their own shelters. We distributed to 180 displaced families. Each family received a bundle of steel roofing panels to make a place to stay of their own. They were so relieved and happy to get this roofing and happy that they can now build a safe shelter. The people were so thankful that someone cares, despite this unfair caste system, and they were so grateful for our support.
Please let the people of this area and the countless others who desperately need your support know that you CARE.
DONATE http://www.theglobalwomensproject.bigcartel.com

Sabina Tamang is a 25 year-old woman from Sindhupalchok District currently staying in Kathmandu. She belongs to a poor family and these disasters have only added to their suffering and worry about the future. She was pregnant and waiting for the delivery of her baby when the earthquake of April 25 occurred. The family had to move into a large shared tent in an open area because their house was damaged. Everyone was so stressed and this created big conflicts between her family members. Because of the frequent after shocks, they couldn’t return home and Sabina had to stay in the tent. It was very difficult; the close quarters were making her sick and she was not getting the food she needed. She gave birth to her first child in that tent. She tells her story by herself:

“It was Saturday on the day of the earthquake, so I and my family were busy cleaning rooms and washing clothes. It was the day off, so we were all busy doing our own things. The Doctor told me not to do heavy work, so I was giving direction to the eldest daughter. All the other kids were playing and my husband was watching television. Suddenly I felt like the earth is moving. In the beginning, I didn’t say this to anyone because I thought it was happening to me only because of weakness from my pregnancy. But after a second, everything in the room started falling and the whole house was shaking. Then I knew that it was an earthquake, so I thought to get out of the room, but I couldn’t. I could hardly stand up and hold the pillars. I thought this was the last minutes of my life. I went so deep that there was no hope left in me. Then after 57 seconds it stopped. I could not believe that I was alive… then all of the family sat together and held one another”

“Our family in Kathmandu is luckily all safe, but for family at our village, all the houses are damaged and their livestock were trapped and died in the collapsed buildings.”
She finally got to know about the shelter run by Women’s Foundation and about the new project on national television.

“I feel myself to be very lucky in this case because I cannot imagine my life if I had not found the Women’s Foundation shelter. How hard it would be for me during this period. After the first disaster, I was staying in open places, which made me physically and mentally very weak. That was the hardest time in my life that I will never be able to forget for my entire life. Due to the earthquake I was facing lots of trouble. This is the period where a woman needs much more nutritious food, love, care and affection, along with a very safe place but this was just something I could dream about in my imagination. To think about love and care became such a far away possibility when I was not able to even get a drink of water when I was thirsty . It was really a very scary and panicky time for me and my family. There I was, with one bed cover and one small blankest and a fear inside me. It was so hard to spend the night in open places with strangers. It was the worst moment in my life to stay outside with an empty stomach, mosquito bites and fear inside. I stayed there a couple of weeks and finally, I got a safe home and caring family at WFN. I am so happy and my baby is also in sound health.”

She adds further, “I am so happy to be the part of this home. I feel like this disaster helped me find a new family. The visits everyday by Renu Maam( Renu Sharma, President of WFN) and the team gives me more strength. She is such a powerful woman, with a kind-hearted nature. Not only me, my children are with me and they are looking after my children. I am so very thankful to this WFN for being my family and for being the family for hundreds of pregnant women and new born babies in this hard time”

Palsang Tamang is 20 years old and she is from the mountainous Sindhupalchowk District of Nepal to the northeast of Kathmandu. She lived there with her husband and her in-laws. Everyone was so happy when Palsang became pregnant and very excited for their first child. It was difficult to find proper care and treatment in their village for Palsang’s pregnancy, so they decided to come to Lalitpur for work and for access to hospital delivery. Palsang’s husband Nima found work in the handicraft business.Although they came to the capital city full of hope for a better life, the money Nima made was not enough for them to survive well or to provide nutritious food for Palsang. Palsang gave birth to a son just a few days before the quake. They were so happy to have their newborn son and came back to their home to show everyone the new member of their family. 

This is what Palsang described happening on April 25 when the earthquake hit, just a few short days after she had given birth to her infant son.
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“I was in my rented house on the first floor. As it was Saturday, my husband was off work so my husband cooked food and we ate together. Then he went out as he had some work of his own to do. I was alone in the house. I cleaned my baby then he fell asleep. I did some household chores and I then thought to take a nap and was about to fall sleep when the bed I was in started to tremble.
The land started to shake and I was numb, unaware of what to do.I heard people screaming, crying, shouting and the ground making noises. I saw everything shaking in my room and I could not even stand up to gather up and hold my son. The tears gradually rolled out and I thought it was the last day of my life.I heard my neighbor calling me and pleading for me to come outside. With the little guts I could summon up, I came out carrying my son. As we came out the door of the house, the house started to completely collapse at the same time.Everybody immediately ran into the open space nearby.I would not have come out if my neighbor had not called me. I owe her this life. I started to tremble with fear and worry about my husband who was at his work and my in-laws in Shindhupulchowk. I couldn’t get in contact with any of them as there was no proper network. After few hours my husband came and I was so relieved. Later on we started making contact in the village.”
“ My in- laws were fine too but their house, with all their cattle trapped inside it in, had collapsed. Because the earthquake occurred in the mid day, many lives were saved as people rarely stay inside the house. I was happy to know that no lives were lost, but they knew that the living would be very difficult as there was no food left outside to survive.”
When asked what would have happened if she had not found the Womens’ Foundation shelter to stay at she says: “I would end up living in a tent in a nearby ground where I would not get proper post natal care and my son too would have to suffer a lot.Before we came here, we did not have our own tent; we had to share with others and adjust to the numbers of people living in the tent.”
“My stay in that tent was very pathetic. We had no food to eat as all our food, utensils, clothes and medicine were buried inside the house. There was no way, except to wait for others to give us some food to eat. We had to sleep the first night on an empty stomach. With each big aftershock, even my son felt the shaking of the earth as we sat directly on the ground without any mattress, so I kept him on my lap the whole night. The next day my husband was able to pull out some food to eat and some mattresses. I could not get enough food for my health and suffered from the cold. There was no place left in my son cheeks without a mark of mosquito. When we heard about The Women’s Foundation on the radio, we felt relief and immediately came for help. My husband and I, along with my son, are very thankful to Women’s Foundation for providing such facilities for women and taking care of them when they need it the most.”

Many women have now heard about WFNs new program to care for pregnant women and new mothers. They have heard about us from our radio and TV interviews, and through referrals from hospitals. WFN is now providing a safe and caring place for women during an extremely vulnerable time when they are just about to give birth or have just given birth to a tiny and helpless infant. The women and their new babies are given medical care, checkups, clothing, bedding, nutritious food and most importantly, love and care to make them feel safe again. Their family members, children, husbands and inlaws often accompany them, as many are homeless.
Our First BABY
Sanu Basnet Shrestha is 28 years old. She comes from Sindhupalchok Discrict, Thulopakhare. She first came to the Women’s Foundation Shelter on May 14th, following the second earthquake, while she was still heavily pregnant. On 17th of May, she gave birth to the mostbeautiful baby girl in this world; the first baby to be born at the Women’s Foundation new program for Pregnant Women and New Mothers.
Although Sanu had a normal delivery and mother and baby are both doing well physically, this has been such a time of hardship and fear for Sanu. The stress of living through both earthquakes and not knowing where she would be when her baby came has had a devastating impact on Sanu’s mental state. She still faces much trouble and uncertainty, but for now she is safe with WFN.
She is currently staying in the shelter home where she is getting nutritious food and care and all other required needs of a new mother. Without this support it would difficult to imagine how she could nurture her child or take care of herself. Now, she feels happy and safe. Both mother and child are getting regular check ups with nurses and doctors, there to care of their health.

The WFN team left the office at 5:00am with two trucks of emergency supplies for the Rasuwa District, Syapru base V.D.C. Road conditions were very bad. We could see dry landslides happening as we drove, triggered by aftershocks that came during our journey. In many places we had to pull over and wait until the landslide was over. The way was too risky. We could feel the aftershocks come time and again. All the hills around us were turned into dry landslides. We kept driving ignoring the landslides and all the trouble we were facing on our way.

Though it was a very hard to get there, after reaching to that place and seeing the smiles on the faces of the people, our team forgot all the suffering and fear on our way. When we reach there, people started sharing their sufferings. Like countless others, they have been sheltering in an open area using whatever coverings they could find to keep off rain and the heat of the elements. They are worried about increasing illness in the elderly and children and the spread of disease. They are worried about the coming monsoon season and what will happen to their land.

All the people of this place are so welcoming. They have now started to build the temporary houses. They look so humble. We could see how they were all helping each other and trying to make sure that everyone was safe. They helped us also with our work. They took so much pleasure in supporting us in any way they could as a way to give back and to give thanks. They have understood that this disaster is not the fault of any people but it is a natural, ongoing process of the earth. We also spoke out to them of their bravery and unity, so that it gave them more hope and strength to fight the many challenges they face.

The people of Syapru greeted us so nicely. We went there thinking we wanted to give them a support and caring that felt like family love. In this case we found that we received that love back.The rolling tears from the people’s eyes due to happiness was such an emotional moment. All the people were blessing us and our team. In this environment it makes us so happy to distribute the emergency aid and see them happy and having more hope.

We distributed the aid, which included a 30 kg sack of rice for each family and clothes for women and also we taught them about the importance of cleanliness. The people still suffer from the stress of their conditions and the constant aftershocks and landslides but they have an amazing spirit of working together to overcome hardship. We found these people already united together and working hard to restart their lives. This could be the lesson for other districts too.

Now more than anything UNITY has strength. It is so inspiring to see the people working together, joining hand in hand.
Together we can share HOPE and together we can share a sense of relief. YES WE CAN!!!
Please! Continue your support! Now more than ever the people need to know you CARE