What did we learn from rebuilding post-Earthquake Nepal?

Shanta Dhakal, a community nurse in Indrawati Jan Sewa Samiti, was attending to her patients in rural Sindhupalchowk, Nepal, when the devastating Gorkha earthquake hit on April 25, 2015. Within a matter of seconds, the entire health post she worked in collapsed. Panic ensued, but Shanta and her team picked themselves up and worked tirelessly over the next 48 hours to make sure that all the injured people were taken care off.

Unaware of the situation in Indrawati Jan Sewa Samiti, the Kathmandu Hub of the Global Shapers community deployed a team of 40 medical professionals to Sindhupalchowk to work with the local population. The Hub chose Tipeni, the village in which Indrawati Jan Sewa Samiti is located, as the base to operate its medical relief as people in rural Sindhupalchowk had not received adequate medical attention.

It was during our medical team deployment in Tipine that the Kathmandu Hub came to know about the amazing work done by Shanta and her team in the aftermath of the earthquake. Furthermore, seeing the ruin of the health post that she operated out of, the Kathmandu Hub took a decision to make sure that the Indrawati Jan Sewa Samiti health post would be rebuilt.

Rebuilding process

There are several factors that non-profit organizations, such as the Kathmandu Hub of the Global Shapers community, have to actively think about when helping to rebuild community buildings such as the health post. Money has to be raised, the local community needs to support the project being instituted, government support and approval is needed, and most importantly, there needs to be a firm long-term commitment from the people who will run the space after it is built.

Money: To build any building the number one resource is money. Corporations and individuals are approached on a daily basis to donate to amazing causes. To succeed in raising the money for your desired project it is important to approach the right partners and have a robust plan to present to them. The Global Shapers Kathmandu Hub demonstrated to our donors that there was an urgent need to rebuild the Tipine Health post as it acted as a primary health facility and birthing center for 10 villages and impacted over 40,000 people.

The Hub also launched a website, ktmshapers.org, where it kept a very transparent record of all donations and expenditures so donors would be comfortable knowing where their money went. By reaching out to the right corporate and individuals the Hub raised over $75,000 from organizations such as Nivea, The World Economic Forum, MC Group, Reliance Group Nepal, and Dow Class of 79.

Community Involvement: A major problem some non-profits face is the lack of community participation in civic projects aimed at helping communities. This happens because non-profits often fail to get opinions from the community members during the planning and construction phase of the project and expect the community to fully engage when the construction is complete. There is countless research that suggests that engaging with the community is extremely important. The Kathmandu Hub worked hand in hand with the local community to plan the health post. We also wanted the community to take ownership of the project and told them that as a contribution toward the building of the health post, the community members themselves would have to clear the rubble and help with the leveling of the land. Furthermore, we ensured that one representative of the local community would be on the Health Post advisory board.

Government cooperation: Far too often in developing countries, non-profits believe that government should be bypassed on important projects. The distrust between government agencies and non-profits is not healthy as there is a need for close partnerships between the two organizations to ensure that operations of the proposed project run smoothly.

The health post in Tipine is now fully constructed and will begin operations in early February, again acting as a facility that serves over 40,000 people.

Kathmandu Hub is the winner of the ‘Shaping the Better Future 2015’ grant challenge launched by Coca Cola in partnership with the Global Shapers Community.