After her house was reduced to rubble by the earthquake, her family has been forced to live without shelter in her garden. Two weeks have already elapsed since the quake but the family is yet to receive a tent.
The lack of shelter means the family is forced to cook in the open, in constant fear of the rains. "If it rains, we cannot cook food and therefore, we eat nothing," she said. "The adults can stay hungry but the children and elderly cannot. They are affected more."Like her, many locals of Manwu have been forced to spend numerous nights hungry as cooking has been interrupted by rainfall. Whenever the villagers are cooking food, they have to be vigilant, constantly checking the sky for signs of rain. "We have to finish eating our food before it rains," said another local, Chhabilal Pudasaini, 61. "The earthquake has troubled me a lot at this age."
"There is no place to go," Kanchhe Gurung of Thumi VDC-5. "We have not eaten and slept for several days because of the rain."
She further added that she has been unable to recover any sheets of corrugated steel from the rubble of her home to build a shelter because she there are no men in her family.
During the night, the villager's lives become even more difficult as there is no electricity. When an oil-fed lamp is lit to prepare food, insects appear.
According to Tek Bahadur Gharti, Secretary of Manwu VDC, all houses situated on the trekking route have been destroyed by the earthquake, which had its epicenter in the district.
"Some locals have built temporary shelters, using the corrugated steel from their damaged houses, while others are living in the open as there are no tents or tarpaulins," he said.
"The quake victims here are still awaiting temporary shelters," he added.
Due to the numerous aftershocks, they have not been able to pull out their valuables from the rubble.
Food stocks are dwindling for the locals as a majority of them only have food stocks of three or four months. Limited resources means many have to go hungry, VDC secretary Gharti informed.
Their problems need to be addressed as soon as possible to reduce their suffering, according to him.
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