Resham Binita Bhujel lost her house and her husband in 2015, the year Nepal was struck by an earthquake. “When the earthquake hit, we lost our small house but luckily, all our lives were spared. We were struggling to feed ourselves when my husband met with an accident. Suddenly I was a widow, a single mother, and the sole breadwinner of a family of five,” the resident of Sangahachowk, Sindhupalchowk shares.

“For three years, we were living in a shed and it was difficult to feed my children with the little money I made. It was a relief to be selected by JICA as a vulnerable household beneficiary. The mobile masons helped us to build our house brick by-brick, which is stronger and will not collapse even if another earthquake hits.” JICA has supported almost 56,000 household beneficiaries such as that of Bhujek in Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk by providing technical assistance and financial help in building seismic-resistant houses.

Under JICA’s Community Mobilization Program, mobile masons, also known as “local engineers”, received expert training in seismic-resistant building. They then supervised the construction of houses in the two districts. Bhujel, who was trained as a mobile mason as well, benefited from the program in man ways. “I can work for almost 5-6 days a month and receive a monthly allowance from the government.

All my children go to school every day; I am hopeful that they will study till high school and secure a job in the future,” says Bhujel. “When the earthquake hit, our old house which was made of only mud and stones was crushed to the ground. When our children came running through the dust, we were very relieved to have lived through the disaster but worried about not having a shelter anymore.”

“I lost my job and had no way to feed my family of six. When JICA began the mobile mason training, I trained to become equipped with the knowledge of building earthquake-resistant houses. I began working as a mobile mason and rushed to complete the construction of my house to shelter my family.” Since then, Bhujel has helped build almost two dozen houses in her village. She now has a disaster-proof house, a stable source of income and her children also go to schools built by JICA.