A house to live in
A house to live in

Phurba Wangchu
Sherpa, 30 year old resident of Kachapu, Bhusinga VDC of Okhaldunga district will
finally move in to his own home with his family. He was selected for the
project initiated by Okhaldunga Community Hospital (OCH) which aims to
facilitate process of land ownership and build earthquake resistant homes for
the landless people. Sherpa, who had been farming on a rented land, said that
he was not in a condition to build a house by himself as it is very expensive. After
being selected for the project he had plans to buy a piece of land but
fortunately he received three ropani (1,526.16m2) of land as a dowry from his
brother-in-law. His house which is the first one of the project has been
completed and he is now ready to move in.

The second
house of the project which belongs to Kamey Jirel and Kanchhi Maya Jiren of
Bhusinga will also be completed in two to three days. Before the earthquake
Jirel family had no plans of buying land. After being selected by OCH, they
recently bought a land as their house will also be built free of cost. Kanchi
Maya is quite hopeful now as she sees new prospects in the village.

Landless
people like Sherpa and Jirel are not eligible for the government’/s
reconstruction programme and often times they are not considered as entitled to
receive benefits as they don’/t have land ownership certificate. The outlook of
the landless people who are selected for the project seem to have been changing.
They are now confident to voice their opinion and no longer do they feel
inferior for not owning any property. OCH which has identified the six most
remote VDCs of Okhaldunga district as the target area for the project has
someway contributed to social equality which is the underlying purpose of the
project. Many locals in the region are also benefiting by learning skills of
earthquake resistant houses. A new ray of hope has thus emerged among the
landless people in the region. 

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