Kish Maya stands in front of a tent she uses for temporary shelter after losing her home in Nepal’s landslides. | Photo courtesy of Himalayan Health Care

Communities in Nepal’s Ruby Valley have struggled to recover from natural disasters for years, but recent landslides have made the situation even worse.  

The remote Ruby Valley has been recovering from natural disasters since 2015, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, destroying 600,000 structures. The National Earthquake Assessment team advised most families to relocate, but many have not had the means to do so.  

Recent landslides in the region have made the situation even more dire by wiping out entire homes, but with poor political representation in the Nepali government, the Ruby Valley has been neglected.  

BBF has worked with nonprofit organization Himalayan Health Care (HHC) to provide resources to the communities in the Ruby Valley since 2016. A recent grant to HHC provided family-sized tents, waterproof groundsheets, tarps, blankets, mats and solar lamps to five families and helped them set up temporary homes in areas away from the landslides.  

Providing aid in the middle of Nepal’s monsoon season, which lasts from June until September, has not come without challenges. Landslides have taken out roads needed to access certain communities.   

HHC’s agricultural supervisor, Soviat, along with families impacted by the disaster, collected the materials from the vehicles and carried them through active landslides for two days so they could get to safe land.   

“The families at least have a clean and dry living space for now with mats and new blankets and have a solar lamp for the nights,” says Anil Parajuli, the program coordinator of Himalayan Health Care’s work in Nepal. “Thank you for your kind support at a very crucial time.”