Landslides, school and the road to Ilam

Massive landslide on the way to Ilam

The landslide that had blocked the road to Ilam had been cleared by the time we passed by. They were still looking for missing people from the five vehicles that had been swept away, six people had sadly lost their lives. Across the valley streaks of devastation in the green landscape marks areas where deforestation has weakened the soil and leaving it vulnerable to the extended and intensified monsoon seasons. People were still scattered around looking for survivors not knowing where to start on the sharp slope even two days later.

The class outside their new school

After winding endlessly up a mountainside with no promise of a summit, we pulled up by the side of the road. This was the first and most accessible of the 36 school reconstruction projects that Save the Children are building in the region. Kids ran out from the bamboo temporary learning centres that we'd built immediately after the earthquake over a year ago. We asked them where their old school was and they ran out to the new block that we were working on. It wasn't just the headmaster  who was proud of the new building. The children enthusiastically stood to attention in front of the basic but functional classrooms and it was clear that without the project they would have nowhere else to go. These are the easy schools, where materials can be delivered by road and skilled masons are close-by. Over the next few days I'll be travelling to remote areas of Taplejung where some of the communities are up to 3 days trek from the road.

Returning to the temporary classrooms

A day earlier, I had met children in Kathmandu who were demonstrating their plans for cities of the future in Nepal. Their incredible ideas for waste to energy plants, solar powered public transport and preserved forests were truly inspirational. It seemed a long way off among the collapsed schools of Eastern Nepal are just doing what they can to keep going.

Karma status: polluted
Likely reincarnation: black cat...