STORIES OF CHANGE “DIPECHO has helped us being organized and has

strengthened our capacity for disaster preparedness”

A fraid of being late, Anita Sada rushes to the meeting of Koshi Savings and Credit Cooperatives. She was busy with the household chores of preparing and

serving food to the family. On top of that she was about to go to a nearby fair, a weekly market, to sell her oxen. Anita lives a very busy life.

She comes from a very poor Dalit family. Her workload has increased not only due to abject poverty, but also the growing awareness in her. She needs to work hard to feed her 7-member family and to send her children to school.

The 35-year-old woman, who lives in Mushahari village ward no. 3 of Inaruwa Municipality in Sunsari district, is the member of Kansamadan Disaster Management Committee in the same village. She is a very active member of the committee. One may wonder how such a busy poor woman could find time for social work. She has a very clear answer. "I divide my time to household work and social work. So it is not difficult for me to do social work," she says.

Anita grabs every opportunity to raise awareness among the neighbours and organised them through committees like those. The villagers' efforts to reduce the negative impacts of disasters on their lives have become visible and Anita's role is very crucial.

Anita, an emaciated mother of four children married off at an early age of 12, hides unbelievable courage and patience. When there is no imminent threat of disasters, she goes around the village and asks parents and their children not play with fire lest their thatch roofed huts may be gutted in fire. "In times like this while there is no such threat of disaster, I counsel the villagers to avoid the danger like that of fire," she explains.

Besides that she also advises the community people about possible communicable diseases ranging from the common cold to swine flu. The villagers are so aware that if the children catch communicable diseases they are stopped to send school until their recovery. "We have even told them not to shake hands with those people who sneeze," she shares.

ActionAid has been working with most vulnerable communities in Nepal to improve their resilience to disasters. Recurrent disasters have been perpetuating poverty in this already impoverished society, where every child born is born vulnerable to some or other form of disaster risk. Since 2007, ActionAid is working through its local partner UPCA in Anita’s community in Inurwa, Sunsari district, helping people to adapt themselves to reduce impact of natural disasters on their lives and livelihood.

Asked what inspired her to work for disaster preparedness, Anita says that with the beginning of the DIPECHO IV project came Mana Maya (miss) Niraula, a social mobiliser, of UPCA Nepal, a partner NGO of ActionAid Nepal. "We always lived in the danger of being submerged. That fear and the knowledge we got from the DIPECHO made us more aware of our situation. This pushed me to work for disaster preparedness," she adds.

Anita Sada Village Mushahari, Inurwa

Sunsari district, Nepal

Case study developed by Ram Sharan Sedhai, ActionAid Nepal. Photos by Ram Sharan Sedhai and UPCA Nepal. This Story of Change narrates the experiences of Anita Sada, a member of the Inaruwa Mushahari Disaster Management Committee formed under the guidance and support of DIPECHO project being implemented in Nepal by ActionAid. The project entitled Surakshit Samudaya II: Building Disaster Resilient Communities, Nepal is funded by European Commission Humanitarian Aid department and co-financed by Australian Government (AusAID). For more information, please contact the DIPECHO Project Manager at mail.nepal@actionaid.org

Through the DIPECHO project, the villagers have got training in search and rescue, fire fighting, first aid and masonry which have helped them to be more aware of the consequences of disaster and has instilled the feeling of supporting others who are in distress. Now they have been able to claim resources from the government agencies. They were successful in getting medicines for first aid from District Health Office.

The villagers mostly Dalits from the community contributed a lot during the disastrous flood in the Sapta Koshi River last year. Men and women alike went to the flooded site and supported the rescue and rehabilitation of the flood affected people in 24 camps. Anita Sada was one of them.

Why did you go to rescue Koshi flood affected people?

"We had faced similar problems in the past. Therefore we know the pains. So we decided to help them as they were in distress. And we were able to help the flood affected people particularly the women and girls who were more vulnerable than their male counterparts," she explained.

Asked what had hurt her most during the rescue of flood affected people, she said, "The worst thing that took place during the disaster was a rape attempt at a girl of Dalit community by the suppliers of construction material workers. And the caste-based discrimination practised even during the disaster was most detestable thing for us. Some Yadavas, the so-called upper caste people, refused to drink water given by a Dalit girl. Likewise the homelessness and hunger women children and elderly people were facing were a heart-rending situation."

Any other memorable incidents or moments! "Some women who were in their period remained hungry for two days as they did not come out of their camps because they had no clothes to replace the stained ones. This I had never imagined. It made us more aware of the needs of women during such tragedies. One more thing struck me: None of the flood affected people said that they had got something to eat. It really took by surprise, she said.

Answering a query Anita said that her team helped the affected people by preparing about 50 earthen ovens within hours and they also supported by arranging firewood besides looking after women, girls and children for accommodation and their special needs. They also guided the flood affected people on getting additional support from various sources.

During the Koshi floods that displaced over 50,000 people from their homes, Anita and her friends who were trained under DIPECHO project worked tirelessly, helping the affected people to overcome the effects. They mobilized money, resources and more importantly, spent time with women and children living in the makeshift camps. Anita understood that Koshi affected people needs someone to talk to in addition to the relief support.

Will you spend the rest of your life just helping the victims?

"No," pat came the answer, "I will manage my home and work to minimise the risks of disaster and support the affected people at the same time."

During Koshi floods, we were able to help the flood affected people, particularly the women and girls, who were more vulnerable than their male counterparts

Our DRR work is not just about building local institutions and providing life skill training, it is also about changing perceptions and attitudes. It is about building a culture of safety and resilience…, it is about rights… it is about responsibilities… (ActionAid Nepal DIPECHO Team)

Anita Sada and her colleagues with project team members from UPCA Nepal, in their monthly meeting to discuss disaster related

issues of the community

Anita says that she feels good if she gets an opportunity to share the knowledge and information he has with her fellow women and men. She also said that she felt unhappy over being illiterate.

Anita's fame is not limited to her village alone. She even goes around the districts to share her experience and to aware the community people about the impact of disasters and ways to reduce them.

Asked whether DIPECHO had really supported them in their cause, she said that the project had benefitted them in real sense. "The project has taught us about the importance of

education, sanitation, environment and income generation, she said. "It has helped us being organised and strengthened our capacity for disaster preparedness.”

The most important thing is that it has capacitated the women to the extent of claiming resources from the government who earlier would not even face strangers," she further said. How do you plan to continue the preparedness work once the projects are phased out?

"We have done two important things: One we have made the people aware of the risks of disasters. Second, we have deposited 30,000 rupees at Koshi Savings and Credit Cooperatives through piggy bank system of saving. We will mobilise the resource in need. Moreover, we will demand resources from the municipality and District Administration Office, District Red Cross, District Development Committee. So even if you leave, the institutions will remain and the villagers would stay here," she said.

Anita has emerged as an inspirational figure who has transformed herself from a hapless woman to a leader of people. She has overcome the predominant prejudices, transcended from being a hapless victim to a resource for the community; from a silent and mute witness to a vocal advocate for her people.

In a matter of few months, DIPECHO project was able to facilitate radical changes in her thinking and actions, and along with her, into the mindsets of hundreds of women like Anita.

(During Disasters) we will demand resources from the municipality and district administration office, district Red Cross, and district development committee. So even if you (DIPECHO) leave, the institutions will remain and the villagers would stay here.

DIPECHO project is implemented by ActionAid in Nepal through its partner orgnisations to build capacity and enhance resilience among people who are vulnerable to disasters. The project is funded by European Commission Humanitarian Aid department and co-

financed by Australian Government (AusAid). The project will be implemented in three districts of Nepal, directly reaching out to over 13,000 people while working with the

government to strengthen the disaster risk reduction policy framework in Nepal.

Disaster Management Committee members of Mushahari in discussion with the DIPECHO project team (DIP IV, 2007-09)

during the project review phase

Working together… for a risk resilient Nepal!