He is confused abour raising his two children who survived and doing some other work. “We don´t have food at our home, nor money to celebrate Dashain,” Nepali said. “After my wife passed away, there´s no one to decorate the house.”
However, he´s not the only one to suffer such pain. Kaldari Nepali of Rokaya village-6 also lost her son to diarrhea. After her son´s death, she has been suffering from lack of food and shelter. Her 27-year-old son´s death has added to the pain of loosing her husband nine years ago.
Although she wishes to wear new clothes and eat good food, poverty has confined her wishes to dreams. Although her neighbors are in Dashain mood, she sits in her courtyard staring and remembering her dead son. On one hand, victims of diarrhea grieve over family members lost, and poverty on the other bars them from celebrating Dashain.
During the year-long mourning, those who lost relatives cannot put tika on their foreheads. Consequently, this year´s Dashain will go without celebration. Last year´s diarrhea outbreak in Jajarkot alone claimed more than 200 lives. This year, 10 have lost their lives.
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