Nepal Rehabilitation Update US Donor Report An initiative of Sewa International 1712 Hwy 6 South, Suite A Houston, TX 77077 Report Prepared by BIJAY MISHRA M.A., SWADESH KATOCH, B.S., SEWA INTERNATIONAL, KATHMANDU SEWA INTERNATIONAL, USA NISHANT AGARWAL, B.S., SREE N. SREENATH, PH.D., MNO, SEWA INTERNATIONAL, NEW DELHI SEWA INTERNATIONAL, USA Aug 31, 2016 Table of Contents I. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 I.1 Purpose of this Report ............................................................................................................................... 2 I.2 Structure of this Report ............................................................................................................................. 2 II. Projects Status Summary ....................................................................................................... 2 III. Rehabilitation Challenges and Project Delays ......................................................................... 4 IV. Hostels Project ....................................................................................................................... 5 V.1 Current Status ........................................................................................................................................... 5 V.2 Construction Project Delays ...................................................................................................................... 6 V.3 Construction Project Progress .................................................................................................................. 6 V.4 Naming Credits ......................................................................................................................................... 7 V. Hostel for Girls at Bharatpur, Chitwan District ....................................................................... 8 VI. Hostel for Boys at Nilkantha, Dhading District ...................................................................... 11 VII. Hostel for Boys at Lothar, Chitwan District ........................................................................... 14 VIII. Village Community Centers .................................................................................................. 16 IX. School Constructions ........................................................................................................... 17 X. Vocational Training: Sewing Center ...................................................................................... 18 XI. Toolkits Distribution ............................................................................................................ 19 References .................................................................................................................................. 20 Sewa International Nepal Rehabilitation Project Report: Aug 2016 Figure 1: Hostel at Dhading under-construction. I. INTRODUCTION As a humanitarian response to the April-May 2015 earthquake in Nepal, Sewa International and its partner organizations in Nepal (see Box I) undertook rescue (0-72 hours), relief (3 days-3 Box I: Sewa International Partners months), and subsequently operations. • Hindu SwayamseVak Sangh (HSS) Historically, Governments generally are very • Pragyik Vidyarthi Parishad, cooperative during rescue and relief and allow • Pashupathi Shiksha Prasar Samiti nonprofit humanitarian organizations to serve. • Jan Kalyan Pratisthan The Government of Nepal provided special • Janjati Kalyan Ashram Aug 2016 Nepal Earthquake Rehabilitation Report Page 1 of 20 permission only to a very select few NGOs to operate during the relief phase. Sewa International was privileged to be one among them. The Government of Nepal has already transferred guardianship of 80 of the 300 orphan children promised to Sewa International and its partners. Of the 80 children, 29 are currently residing in temporary rental homes run by Sewa and will be transferred to hostels that are being built through Lead Sponsor donations from the US. Additional children will be accommodated by Sewa International as the guardianship is transferred from the Government to Sewa International over the next year. I.1 Purpose of this Report This progress report is provided to donors in the US who have contributed to the rehabilitation projects benefitting 2015 Nepal Earthquake victims. I.2 Structure of this Report In Section II we give a summary. Section III details the rehabilitation challenges and the resulting project delays that have been endemic to all International Donor projects of such kind post 2015 Nepal Earthquake. Section IV discusses the current status of the Hostel projects in general. Sections V-VII details the progress of each of the three Hostel projects along with a brief description of the activities of the children already in Sewa’s guardianship and who are residing in temporary rental housing. Section VIII covers the Village Community Centers followed by Section IX that discusses the School building project. In Section X features the Vocational training centers. Section XI describes the Toolkit distribution project. Throughout this report currency is in US Dollars represented by a ‘$’ sign. II. PROJECTS STATUS SUMMARY Sewa International’s Nepal Rehabilitation project (see Box III) though slowed down due to continuing political instability and bureaucratic delays, is back on track. See Section III for reasons for the delay. The locations of the project are given in the map in Figure 2. The rehabilitation projects consist of: (i) Building three hostels to house 200 earthquake orphaned children (100 girls and 100 boys); (ii) Rebuilding three schools; (iii) Constructing 40 Village Community Centers; (iv) Vocational Training for Livelihood development focusing on Tailoring; (v) 200 toolkits distribution (each $35) for residents living in narrow lanes whose houses had collapsed; and, (vi) Distribution of 10,000 School kits (each school kit costed $6). Currently, 80 children have been transferred to the guardianship of Sewa International and partner organizations by the Nepal Government. Government policy of requiring the orphaned children to be cared for in their native district constrains options for Sewa International to search for solutions. Of the 80 children, 29 are being cared for in temporary rentals, who eventually will be housed in the hostels sponsored by Sewa’s Lead Sponsors in the US. One hostel with a capacity of 50 boys in Nilkantha, Dhading is months from being completed. Land for the Lothar Boys Hostel has been acquired and building construction will be starting soon. Land for hostel at Lothar, Chitawan is being finalized. Aug 2016 Nepal Earthquake Rehabilitation Report Page 2 of 20 Forty village community centers are planned and discussions with the communities has begun. Two hundred toolkits project in Bhakthapur, the city of ancient temples, has been completed. Three schools are being constructed. The Schoolbag distribution for 10,000 children across Nepal has been accomplished. Box III: Nepal Rehabilitation Projects by Donors from the USA Completed (2015): ü School Kits for 65,000 needy rural students with 10,000 sponsored by US Donors (see Sewa International’s Aug 2015 School Kit Distribution report). ü 200 Toolkits distributed to indiVidual homeowners for clearing collapsed houses in narrow streets. Ongoing (2015 - present) I. Three hostels for housing 200 earthquake orphans. a. One Girls Hostel, Narayangadh, Chitwan District. b. Two Boys Hostels – Nilkantha, Dhading District ; and Lothar, Chitwan District. II. Rebuilding 40 Village Community Centers. III. Construction of three Schools: Panchakal, Khabre District; Malekhu, Dhading District; and Sindhukot, Sindhupalchok District. IV. Vocational / LiVelihood training. Figure 2: Map of Nepal showing location of proposed sites for Hostels and Schools construction. Aug 2016 Nepal Earthquake Rehabilitation Report Page 3 of 20 III. REHABILITATION CHALLENGES AND PROJECT DELAYS Rehabilitation programs pose a different set of challenges along a longer timeline. Crucial in rehabilitation is the need for licensing that the national and local governments control through their bureaucracy. These run from acquiring land for social projects, to building permits, and, acquisition of the children orphaned during earthquake from the Nepal Federal Government. Such licensing requirements is usually the primary cause for delays. Additionally, any political instability in the country exacerbates the delays. In the case of Nepal, both these factors - political instability and bureaucracy - have proved to be a deadly combination to delay effective deployment of the foreign aid. See Box II. Box II: Rehabilitation Delays in Nepal After the 2015 Earthquakes (April 25 and May 12), an International Donor conference was held in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, on Jun 25, 2015. A reconstruction and rehabilitation package Valued at $4.1 billion USD was pledged by Various foreign goVernments and donor agencies. It needs to be recalled that after a decade of Maoist insurgency since 1996 killed 15,000, the moVement of democracy ultimately resulted in remoVal of the monarchy in 2008. Nepal has been perpetually politically unstable in its quest for a constitution eVer since. Ongoing negotiations at the time of the earthquake for a permanent constitution to succeed the 2007 interim constitution that followed the moVement for democracy took center stage