SUCCESS STORIES
Rita & Family
Rita is a widow with a son and daughter. When the Nivas team first met her, she had sent them away for schooling because their home wasn’t a safe place to stay. She was living alone in Nuwakot in her in-laws’ old, severely damaged and vulnerable house just trying to get by. Even though her old house was unlivable due to the damage during the earthquake of 2015, she unfortunately did not qualify for government aid and had no avenues to turn down from there.
After a lot of hard work both on the construction site and behind the scenes, today Rita is living in her new beautiful brick home where her kids feel safe.
Shortly after building her new home, Rita joined our livelihood training and is now working with her new animals and husbandry skills. The last time we spoke to her she was milking her cow. Her voice was filled with gratitude and strength. We can’t wait to see where she goes from here.
“I nearly dropped out of the Nivas program because it was unbelievable to me that I would receive any help to build a strong house. I thought it was a hoax!”
Rita participated in our construction training and understood the importance of living in an earthquake resilient home. While she had no money to invest in a new home and no access to credit, she eagerly proposed to Nivas the idea that she would do the window and door work by herself with support from neighbors, along with any and all supporting tasks she could do for the construction crew. We had a deal!
“This is the only safe place to spend my life so I treat it like a temple. It is also my own house, so I have worked on it like a temple.”
