KAVREPALANCHOWK, June 4: It had just been eleven days the family of Neelam Shrestha of Kharelthok VDC-4 in Kavrepalanchowk welcomed a new member to their family when the 7.6 Richter scale earthquake, the most powerful one of this generation since 1934 AD, struck the country on April 25.
That day, the Shrestha family was about to complete the nwaran (the eleventh day baptism rituals of the new born baby) and go for the meal, the earth suddenly started shaking violently. Everybody gathered for the ceremony including Neelam were confused what was happening. The Shrestha family members and guests inside the house began running out when they realised that an earthquake had struck. Neelam also followed them outside unknowingly. Luckily, all managed to come out before the house turned into rubble.
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Until then, Neelam was not aware of what was actually going on. She immediately felt a sort of dizziness and fainted. When she gained consciousness after some time, she realised it was an earthquake and the baby flashed in her mind. This moment, the love of a mother for her baby started flowing out. She was crying for her baby and later was relieved as she knew that the baby boy was safe with his father. But she herself suffered a sprained hand in the incident.
Since the April 25, the Shrestha family is living in temporary shelter made up of corrugated zinc sheets. Neelam shared how she survived on khole (a special broth of cattle feed prepared by mixing water and roughly grinded maize) that was cooked outside the house for a week as all the foodstuffs got buried in the debris of the collapsed house.
Nourishment and frequent meals for the lactating women was a far cry for Neelam at the time. Bare survival was also a great challenge after the disaster. But this is not the only 'unforgettable' moment that Neelam experienced during her motherhood. There are other new mothers also in the district who are deprived of adequate meals for many days and in need of proper care, following the massive earthquake.
Neelam says she can never forget the moment when her family received rice as relief after a week, prepared a meal and enjoyed it together. "It tastes so delicious," she shared.
She and other new mothers and expectant mothers like her are in the desperate need of rehabilitation. New mothers have not been able to provide proper care to their babies in the shelter lacking even basic facilities and the newborns have started falling sick. The tin roof turns so hot in the day it is unbearably hot inside the shelter. They have to sleep on the floor without mattresses exposing the newborns and themselves to the night time cold.
Shalina BK of Koshidekha VDC, who is now nine months pregnant, shared that she was not feeling well as she was forced to stay in the open for many days after the earthquake. She is more worried about her future as she is expecting her child soon. "I am confused when I try to think of the coming days that are likely to be more difficult than now. Though I am surviving on the mercy of neighbours, I have no idea how could I adjust in this incomplete shelter with my baby in rainy days," she says, hoping for government help to women with the same situation in this adversity.
When approached, Nirmala Karki of the Women and Children Office, Kavre said that the office has already started the distribution of special relief package that includes eggs, ghee and baby blankets targeting lactating and pregnant women in the affected areas and has planned to expand the service throughout the district that falls in the list of the hardest-hit districts by the earthquake.
A total of 88 women have been reported suffering miscarriage due to the earthquake and over 4,697 were affected, and this figure could still go up, she added.
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