Subash thapa is one of the livelihood fellowship students who was selected Post Graduate
diploma in disaster and Livelihood recovery program initiated by Tata institute of social science, TISS in
association with Women Development Advocacy Center.
Subash Thapa, is an undergrad student of Business
administration from Lincoln College. He has worked as coordinator in Welcome to
my yard foundation. Welcome to my yard is an organization that has been involved
in inspiring and enabling, helping young street children get back on their
feet. They have been encouraging and helping them in educational needs. And having worked in such an organization, he has
developed a keen interest in working in social work background. He is specially
interested in social entrepreneurship which would help country and community
develop through business.
One may not realize how important students in this background are. And not just for our country but worldwide. As pointed out by Liz Heimann, constant change in domestic and international environment has led to lots of natural disaster just last year among which includes massive earthquake in Nepal. And there are people providing charity and basic needs to the victims, there are not a lot of people who would actually go to the field to help. Passionate youths like Subash is a good example of people who are serious about helping others. In a short write up interview, he shared with us how he is doing there, and he plans to do when he comes back.
How did you come to pursue this course?
And being from Gorkha, one of the major places of earthquake, I saw the desolation that remained after the disaster. So, i could not help but notice the need for capable social workers in Gorkha. I want to uplift the social and economic status of Gorkha and my country. And when i heard about this course, I immediately felt the that I had to join it.
How important is social work, especially with the recent earthquake and crisis. How important is it to you?
Well, Social workers are needed worldwide. we may not realize
but social work is in great demand and not just because we had an earthquake.
But because of other reasons like migration, climate change, natural disasters
and much more. And being a social worker means not just working in these areas.
It is a very flexible job. You could switch environment from government agency
or offer counseling as private practitioner. Social worker play important role
in hospitals, clinics and schools. And as a social worker you will face lots of
challenges. And while it may be stressful, it also provides opportunity to make
a difference and prompt changes. So, it’s a very important job and is needed in
lots of sectors.
To me it is specially very important. I come from business background and I envision myself being in a social business that brings change in society through business. Social business i think is an effective way for social and economic uplifting. I really would like to have a correct sense of social work before getting to business. So, personally social work is of great importance to me.
To me it is specially very important. I come from business background and I envision myself being in a social business that brings change in society through business. Social business i think is an effective way for social and economic uplifting. I really would like to have a correct sense of social work before getting to business. So, personally social work is of great importance to me.
How has the earthquake affected the livelihood of different
individuals/groups in your community?
Gorkha was at the epicenter for the 2015 earthquake. This
took a large toll on lives as well properties and industry. After the
earthquake the livelihood of the people has been stripped away. When last I was
visiting water access was a huge issue, with many people struggling to access
safe and clean water. Most of resources have been stopped and people que up for
several hours for a single jar of water. Because of the location of the
epicenter of the earthquake, damage to houses has caused huge displacement of
people as these houses are unsafe to live in and have not been repaired or
rebuilt. Many people still live in tents and are essentially homeless. Farmers
are not getting a proper place to collect their harvested crops. The cattle are
still spending their nights under temporary roof. Many of the natural water
resources have been dried up. The roads have been damaged which has made their
life more difficult as the import-export of goods from those places have been
slowed down. Many people are showing signs of trauma and experiencing mental
health problems.
How severe was the impact?
NEPAL Earthquake 2015 affected the livelihoods of over 2.28
million households and 8 million people in 31 districts, with total damage and
loss to livelihoods of NPR 28.4 billion (USD 284 million)The earthquake has
pushed an additional 700,000 people below the poverty line Over 5 million
workers have been affected, with about 150 million work days lost, 69% of which
are in the agriculture sector About 135,200 tons of foodstuff, 16,399 large
livestock, 36,819 small livestock, and 460,762 poultry animals have been lost
More than 3.5 million people are food insecure, and some 180,000 people engaged
in tourism are extremely vulnerable
The agriculture sector suffered total
damage and loss of NPR 25.5 billion (USD 255 million), with maximum losses
(86%) in Nepal’s mountains and hills The average value of per capita disaster
effect is highest in the mountains (NPR 219,503/USD 2,195) and the lowest in
Inner Terai (NPR 50,813/USD 508), with an average of NPR 130,115 (USD 1,301) in
the 14 most affected districts The per capita disaster effect is positively
correlated with poverty (0.46), indicating that less developed and poor
communities, many of which are in mountain areas, endured a larger portion of
disaster impacts Poor women and disadvantaged groups suffered more in terms of
death, person years of life lost, injury, displacement, and impacts on other
livelihood assets (Reference: www.icimod.org/resource/18890)
+Bnay Shrestha - Business Student, Music Enthusiast
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