The official opening of the village on March 19 involved traditional dancing and blessing ceremonies.
April 25 marks the first-year anniversary of the Nepalese earthquake that killed almost 9,000 people and caused damage in excess of US$10 billion.
Although tourists have gradually begun to return to Nepal — albeit in drastically reduced numbers — the aftermath of the natural disaster and its effect on the country’s tourist industry and infrastructure can still be seen today, with some earthquake-hit villages still lying in ruins, and whole families still living in temporary homes.
Owing to months of political unrest, subsequent protests, disruptive monsoon weather and a lack of planning from the Nepalese government, the areas that have recovered have invariably done so with the help of foreign aid, like, for example, from the Thai-Nepali Association.
Funded by the association and the Rotary Club Nepal, a project to build 46 homes for villagers severely affected by the earthquake officially opened on March 19 — six months later than scheduled.
Like many Nepalese expats in Thailand, or those with Nepalese heritage, Somchai Chatry, vice-president of the Thai-Nepali Association, was prompted to visit following the earthquake to help in any way he could.
For Somchai, who was born in Myanmar but raised in Bangkok, his first ever visit to Nepal, three weeks after the quake, proved to be rather an emotional one.
“My god, I thought, this is my fatherland. I was so excited — but on the other hand I could see the poor people and they were crying, with no place to sleep, nothing to eat and everything was destroyed — I felt like crying all the time.”
As Somchai, along with the four other delegates from the association, didn’t really have a plan or strategy or even any contacts in the country, they spent the first few days travelling around in a rental car, surveying the damage. As the military was co-ordinating all disaster relief operations, they paid a visit to an official, who, in a small room and with the help of a wall-mounted map, pointed out areas that had already received aid, and other areas where people had died.
Armed with this knowledge, the association set off in search of one particular fishing and farming village, called Namuna Majhi Gaun. “It was very poor; people had died, farm animals had died, there were people with broken legs, but they were united. They were very good and honest people. Even the meagre food we brought was divided between everybody. There were 46 families there and they said, ‘We need a home, we need shelter, but we have no money’. ” Although the association inspected other places during their trip to Nepal, when they returned to Bangkok to discuss who to help, it was an easy decision to make.
The association, which has existed only since 2011, just had to calculate if they could actually afford to do so.
“The donations were coming from people earning just 200-300 baht per day, but they still managed to give around 1,000 baht each to help.”
There are approximately 5,000 Nepalese expats residing in Thailand, but around 150,000 ethnic Nepalese.
The Thai-Nepali Association not only helps the Nepalese in need, providing food and shelter, but also helps foster a tight-knit community.
Through a combination of fundraising activities in each of the 10 divisions that the association operates in, more than 2 million baht was raised.
The next step was to figure out the logistics of how to actually do it, and for a while it all seemed to be naturally coming together.
“As we were a foreign association, we had to have one Nepalese partner, so we made an arrangement with the Rotary Club [who matched their 2 million baht funds].
“Then we were introduced to the Heavenly Path organisation, which said it would provide the manpower: one person for every house built.” Unfortunately, during the months following the earthquake, Nepal witnessed huge political unrest.
Different groups protested against the new constitution; border points were blocked, which ultimately prevented deliveries of supplies and money; donations went missing; and even an agency that was set up to oversee billions of dollars in spending collapsed within a few weeks.
Somchai knew that if they were to succeed in rebuilding Namuna Majhi Gaun village, they would need a guarantee and, most importantly, security.
“We went to the military and told them that if anybody came to try and play ‘political games’, we would leave. Politics is very dirty in Nepal. We went to one village and a political party heard about it and came down and tried to claim responsibility for us being there.”
After receiving official assurance, the association signed an MOU with the rotary club and Heavenly Path.
Explaining the project’s delay, Somchai said: “I ended up going eight times over the nine months. Building 46 houses — it’s no joke.
“In the first few months we were able to provide food for the villagers, but after that we couldn’t, so they had to go and work.
“And we could only give food to the volunteers, so our workforce was effectively cut in half.”
Other problems, said Somchai, included not being able to trust people, ordering goods that never arrived, and staff not showing up.
Despite the delay, the villagers of Namuna Majhi Gaun now have the keys to their new homes and a sturdy roof over their heads in time for the summer’s monsoon season.
Many families that were displaced by the disaster, however, have still to receive the promised government-funded houses, while others are lucky to have received a fraction (15,000) of the promised 200,000 Nepalese Rupees.
“Policies have changed,” said Somchai. “Any organisation that wants to help these people should go and help right now. I know that some international organisations have already collected the donations but don’t trust the Nepalese government enough to send them, but they can, so please do it. The people still need help.”
Meanwhile, at the Thai-Nepali Association and back in Bangkok, Somchai is busy working on the next project, likely to be the association’s most ambitious yet.
“We’ve bought some land in Bangkok and want to build a cultural centre where we can showcase our culture and put on meditation, dance, art workshops and shows to strengthen our community.”
The clearing of rubble from many of the affected sites took weeks.
Somchai Chatry speaking to Nepalese media on the day of the opening of the village.
Villagers explore their new homes.
Many of the villagers were seriously injured by the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Much of the clearing and construction was done by volunteers, including Somchai.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.