Villagers, especially women, are found to be actively involved in social activities post-earthquake. Besides their regular household chores, women have kept themselves busy participating in various activities.
Shanta Maya, 40, of Pipaltar, Dhading considers herself fortunate to be alive after the massive earthquake. After losing everything including her house, she has been struggling to put her life back on track. She regularly attends the focus group discussions in the village to keep her spirits high.
"If I started worrying too much, my children will have no one to look up to," she added, "Even my husband is so worried to lose life-long earnings," she said.
She regularly attends the focus group discussions so that she can share her ideas and pain together. "The regular meetings help me to forget the pain and concentrate upon the future."
"We have been organizing focus group discussions among the village women on a monthly basis to share our ideas and chart out our future plans," said Anuradha Nepal, an active member of Seti Siladevi Woman Group in Pipaltar, Dhading.
The village women meet every month and discuss on issues related to hygiene promotion, construction of houses and livelihood. The group also frequently organizes skilled program to train women.
"I have been rearing goats to support my husband who is also a farmer by profession," Menuka Acharya, 34, of Salang-9, Dhading said during one of the meetings.
Menuka and her husband Shiva Prasad, 42, are among the 'model farmers' of the village selected by a project run by Act Alliance, an alliance of development agencies active in more than 100 countries.
They were given an initial fund and regular trainings to run their agricultural business. Menuka regularly shares her knowledge on farming to village women during the group discussions.
Subha Thapa Magar, 76, of Salang has been contributing to her family by rearing around ten chickens despite her old age.
"The chicken lay at least one egg a day which costs around Rs 20 each in the local market," she said. When asked why she was busy with rearing chicken at this age, she smiled and said that it is an easy job for her age.
Shiva Silwal, 56, of Pipaltar said that he is amused by active participation of the women in post-quake situation. "They have been making efforts to put back life together," he said, adding, "Their post-quake work is appreciable."
Related story
Bomb diffused at Dhading
