Reconstruction Programs
A 7.9 richter scale earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, the 25th of April 2015, which shook the entire country and left with massive destruction in human casualties and physical property, leaving people in unforgettable pain and tears. Thousands of old houses and temples have completely been destroyed rendering people homeless and without shelter. They have lost their homes, their belongings and most importantly, their families.
Since after the earthquake on 25th April, Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, in coordination with local government and in partnership with local women cooperatives, community groups and CBOs, is providing support to the earthquake affected families for improving their living condition through reconstruction and livelihood support. With support from various funding partners, Lumanti has focused its reconstruction programs in different earthquake affected areas in Rasuwa, Makawanpur and in traditional old settlements within Kathmandu valley.
Reconstruction Projects in Brief
Project 1:
Project Title:
Community Managed Post Earthquake Reconstruction in Urban Poor communities in Nepal
Project Objectives:
The key objective of the project is to facilitate and assist earthquake affected families and communities to plan and rebuild hopes, homes and basic infrastructure making the communities better, safer, resilient and sustainable for a dignified life of the people.
The specific key objectives are
1. Build capacity of the communities, women and men, for regeneration of community lives by raising awareness and confidence, mapping and management of reconstruction
2. Reconstruction of integrated cost effective resilient homes and essential basic facilities according to the priorities of the communities for safer and dignified life.
3. Contribute in building economic stability of the earthquake affected families by strengthening saving and credit cooperatives, their linkage with financial institutions and creating opportunities for livelihood generating activities
4. Coordinate and partner with concerned agencies including government for policy influencing for community led sustainable reconstruction processes by sharing experiences and dissemination of information
Targeted Population and Location:
This project is targeted for the 470 earthquake affected families in Siddhipur (Ward no 12, 13 and 14) in Mahalaxmi Municipality and Thecho (Ward no. 4, 5, 6 and 7) in Bajrabarahi Municipality in Lalitpur District, Machhegoan (Ward no 13 and 14) in Chandragiri Municipality in Kathmandu district and Chitlang VDC in Makwanpur district.
Funding Partner:
The project is under implementation with support from MISEREOR.
Project 2:
Project Title:
Support to Resilient Auto Recovery Project in Laharepauwa VDC and Dhaibung VDC, Rasuwa District
Project Objectives:
The four key objectives of the projects are
• Reconstruct resilient homes and communities for safe and dignified life
• Improve access to water and sanitation facilities
• Capacitate communities to manage risk and reduce vulnerability
• Improve financial empowerment of the women
Targeted Population and Location:
The project is targeted for 380 earthquake affected families in Laharepauwa and Dhaibung VDC in Rasuwa District.
Funding Partner:
The project is under implementation in partnership with Cord Aid.
Project 3:
Project Title:
Improvement of living conditions of earthquake affected families in Dalchokie VDC, Lalitpur
Project Objectives:
• Contribute to the improvement of living conditions of earthquake affected families in Dalchowki VDC, Lalitpur
Targeted Population and Location:
The project is targeted for 250 earthquake affected families in Dalchowki VDC in Lalitpur District.
Funding Partner:
The project is under implementation in partnership with Sign of Hope.
Project 4:
Project Title:
Reconstruction and rehabilitation support, and enhancement of resilience of socially and economically marginalised earthquake-affected communities of Lalitpur District
Project Objectives:
The overall objective of the project is to improve living conditions and increase resilience of poor and marginalised communities of Lalitpur District, through improved sustainable shelter, integrated WASH and enhanced capacities on DRR.
Specific objectives are
1. Improved safe housing conditions for most vulnerable households
2. Increased access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities and improved knowledge on best hygiene practices among the target communities
3. Enhanced capacity of target communities on DRR and facilitated access to credit schemes
Targeted Population and Location:
The project is targeted for 200 earthquake affected families in 5 wards of Bajrabarahi Municipality in Lalitpur District.
Funding Partner:
The project is under implementation with support from Diakonie.
Program Approach and Methodology
Community led approach: The reconstruction program is being implemented adopting community led approach. The engagement of the community in the project activities is one of the major approaches of Lumanti to implement its reconstruction programs to ensure strong participation and ownership. Lumanti has been working in the community as a facilitator by organizing community and forming them into a committee for overall foreseeing the reconstruction project. Lumanti team has been working together with the committee for the local resource mobilization including human resources.
Empowering the community women: Establishment of saving groups is the key for empowering the community women and engaging them in the reconstruction of the houses and the community in a whole. Various capacity building activities for engaging women in the reconstruction process and for economic. The groups are being linked together as saving cooperative through which Lumanti is assisting to link with financial institutions for soft loan for families seeking support for housing construction.
Risk and vulnerability assessment: Risk and vulnerability assessment Risk mapping workshop was conducted in all the communities through active participation of community member. Disaster mitigation plans are in the process of being developed on the basis of this mapping exercise. These plans will be used for developing the program for the second phase and will encourage the people to take safety measures at the household and community level to build resiliency against future disasters. Various aspects and issues are identified by the community members for mitigating the disaster in the future. Vulnerability Capacity Assessment (VCA) report and plan will be used as an advocacy tools for developing the DRR strategies.
Coordination and Partnership: Lumanti has been working in coordination with National Reconstruction Authority including other National and district level government line agencies. In addition, Lumanti is implementing its reconstruction program in partnership with local government (Municipalities / VDCs), Community based organizations, women groups, community leaders and representatives.
Technical Assistance: A technical team of Lumanti comprising architects, engineer and social mobilisers headed by Project Coordinator has been providing technical support to the people in the affected communities for the reconstruction of their houses preparing drawings for house construction, planning of the settlement or through technical supervision which is needed during construction.
Capacity Building: Capacity strengthening, awareness and education of the community is another key aspect of the program. Lumanti has been providing technical trainings focusing on earthquake resistance technology for the local masons and they are being mobilized for the reconstruction of the houses in the community. Apart from this, the community people are being oriented and trained on different issues like disaster risk reduction, earthquake and disaster management.
Procurement of the construction materials: Procurement of housing construction materials such as bricks, sand, cement, rod, wood etc is being done by the Community committee formed to manage the construction at the community level. While procuring, Lumanti procurement guidelines is being followed. If necessary, government procurement guidelines is also being followed.