UML volunteers help build shelters in Nanglebhare

NANGLEBHARE, KATHMANDU, June 1: After the devastating April 25 earthquake destroyed her two-storey building, Mithu Chaulagai, 60, and her frail husband had thought they wouldn't be able restore everything on their own.

They were hopeless as the elderly couple has been looking after their grandchildren while their two sons are abroad.

"We old couple can't set up a makeshift house. Even my daughter-in-laws aren't capable of doing hard work. So, we didn't even expect to get a shelter of this quality," said Chaulagai, who was encircled by her grandchildren inside the hut adjoining their collapsed house.Chaulagai and over 20 other households in the village could live in the shelters after volunteers mobilized by CPN-UML built the huts for them.

Ain Mahar, vice-chair of the CPN-UML student wing, said over 100 student volunteers have already worked in the village while around 50 to 60 students work there regularly.

The UML members helped the villagers demolish some precarious houses, retrieve their valuables and collect other goods, manage debris and build shelters for the villagers.

Volunteers found working at ward number 6 of Nanglebhare VDC on the outskirts of Kathmandu said they gave priority to those families who are in need of support and can't build temporary shelters on their own.

They said their priority build temporary houses from materials recovered from debris such as corrugated sheets, bricks, wood and other materials found in the village.

So far they have erected 21 shelters and helped demolish and clean the debris of 19 other houses that collapsed in recent earthquakes.

They have identified some schools and more buildings for demolition.

"This is a people's university. The things you learn here is far more valuable than a university degree," UML leader Ravindra Adhikari told a group of volunteers working in the village.

Meanwhile, CPN-UML's central publicity department has claimed that at least 28,000 UML volunteers have been working in 25 districts. The party said over 257 structures, including 200 campuses and schools, have been constructed by the party volunteers so far.

The party last month launched a month-long volunteering campaign with a view to rehabilitate the displaced people and reconstruct earthquake-ravaged houses, schools and other public structures.

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