The need to stay hopeful and kind – to each other and to oneself – during this crisis was key among the messages put forth by young people from Nepal and Italy as part of a recent webinar organized by UNICEF in collaboration with UNDP, WHO, UNV and the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Nepal.  As part of the webinar four volunteers from UNICEF…, Anik Rana Magar, spoke of the challenges faced by the community during the pandemic – namely, a worsening of the marginalization and stigma that they already face – and stressed on the need for better support. She explained how she has been actively working to provide urgent medical support to members of the LGBTIQ+ community throughout the COVID-19 period.  “I…, Virginia Barchiesi,  shared her story of being active through a volunteer programme for which she also received a medal of honor from the President of Italy. But she admits that as a planner, it wasn't easy for her to adjust at first.  “Since I tend to over plan my days, this pandemic was a hard experience initially, but I understood that I needed to sit back and be…, Sagar Parajuli, shed light about the importance of mental health support for young people.  "I myself went through repeated phases of feeling depressed at the start of the lockdown." Referring to the reported increase in cases of domestic violence and online harassment during the lockdown period, Sagar also talked of his own efforts, working with the local…, Rasani Shahi , spoke about her anxiety and worries when the pandemic initially hit, then described how she shifted her attention to focus on more productive ways of coping – including self-care, exercise and cooking.  “We cannot afford to be selfish. We need to be kind to each other and show empathy at this difficult time that the whole world is going through…, Roshani Adhikari, talked about the different ways in which she has been keeping herself engaged during the pandemic. Visually-impaired herself, Roshani said she doesn’t let her disability stop her from doing her part to contribute to her community or advocating for inclusion of people with disabilities in various activities and opportunities. She is also learning…, Anastasia Vasapollo,  spoke about the important of knowing that we are in this crisis together and that the pandemic shows us how connected we are as a global community. She explained how important it was to speak up about the fear and anxieties created due to the pandemic, and talked about how her work with UNICEF has enabled her to use her network to reach more…

Dolakha, Nepal -, Abiraj Shiwakoti pulls a cloth bag hanging off of a hook outside his home in Kalinchowk in Dolakha District and lays out the contents on the floor one by one. First comes a sheaf of important documents encased in a plastic file, followed by a bottle of water, a pen and a torch, among other items. This is a ‘jhatpat jhola’ or a go-bag, packed ready…

Bhaktapur, Nepal –, 12-year-old Thakur Chepang is the first to arrive in his class. In the time that the first session is set to begin, he carefully takes in the writings on the charts and posters in his class room’s walls. It has only been about a month since he started at the Chitrapur Basic School in Suryabinayak, Bhaktapur district, and the rooms of this school…

Rautahat, Nepal –, Anarjit and Rahul Kumar Ram are both eager to show off their newly-acquired skills in handwashing. “You need to rub your hand over the back of your other hand five times like this, and then turn it over and do the same on the other side,” 12-year-old Rahul explains, as Anarjit, 10, nods solemnly in agreement. Two days ago, on 16 July, the two…, In the crosshairs, For the past quarter of a century, Gaur Municipality has undergone floods on a yearly basis, owing to its proximity to the Lal Bakaiya and Bagmati Rivers, both prone to overflowing during the monsoon season. It had been deeply impacted in the last major disaster in August 2017. This year too, water levels in both rivers had been rising steadily…, Local-level response, Walking through the narrow, muddy lanes of Sabagadha, one can still see damp streaks on the houses, testament to just how high floodwaters had risen. Road access to the village and many other parts of the district had been severely affected for several days, and communications systems were down, rendering rescue and relief work challenging. Still…, A second disaster, Jamuni Devi, 30, sweeps a disparaging hand towards her front yard, now a mess of trash and wet straw. She lives in a small settlement of ‘Dailt’ (traditionally marginalized community) families, another area in Gaur deeply affected by the flood. Jamuni and her family – including four children – had taken temporary shelter in a building owned by…

Okhaldhunga, Nepal –, Mandira Kafle, teacher at the Parijat Smriti Basic School in Okhaldhunga District in eastern Nepal, asks student Nishan Rai to come up with some four-syllable words in Nepali. Eleven-year-old Nishan thinks a moment before reciting: “ Jha-la-ma-la (bright lights), Da-la-da-la ( swamp) .” “How about three syllables?” the teacher follows up. “ Ka-la-…

“It felt like the world was finished.”, Gorkha, Nepal –, In 2015, Anarda Gurung was an Assistant Health Worker at the health post in Laprak village in Gorkha District in north-central Nepal. When a massive earthquake struck Nepal on 25 April, Laprak – owing to its proximity to the epicenter in Barpak in the same district – was practically levelled. Anarda, who’d been at home when the quake hit,…

Dolakha, Nepal, Jan 2016 –, 10-year-old Munal Basnet is excited about the arrival of a new calf. His intuition tells him that the cow will give birth in a few hours. But his sister Monika, 14, says it won’t happen until next month. Their discussion is interrupted, but not concluded by their grandmother’s call for morning meal. The conversation over the meal still hovers…

Ramechhap, Nepal, April 2016, — A week after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit central Nepal on 25 April 2015 Kabita Shrestha, a social worker in Manthali, the district headquarters of Ramechhap was out in the field in the surrounding villages following up with families that she had been checking up on  for some time. “I had to do something,” said Shrestha. "I knew that there…

March 2016: Gorkha, Nepal, “I love my daughter the most in the whole world,” said Amita Gurung, holding her baby daughter Arpita tightly in her arms. "But when I think of the day she was born, I feel like crying." That  was the day when a devastatnig earthquake shook central Nepal in April last year. Amita's village was at the epicenter of the quake. It was a dull Saturday…, ‘Earthquake! Earthquake!’, How the heavily pregnant Amita dragged herself out of the collapsing house when the whole world seemed to be rocking still feels like a bad dream for this young mother. In her Snan village of Barpak Village Development Committee (VDC) many people had gathered together and were retreiving foodstuff from the rubble of a village shop. A couple of…

It takes a village to immunize a child, March 2016:, It was an overcast morning in Barpak Village Development Committee (VDC). Clouds hung low in this VDC perched in a mountainous ridge of northern part of Gorkha District, almost 180 km away from Kathmandu. As a shrill voice of village messenger (locally known as katuwal) resonated the cobbled streets of the village, Manush Ghale, female community…, Earthquake No Bar for Immunizing Children, Dolakha District is the epicentre of another big Nepal earthquake of 12 May 2015. When the earthquake struck, Sajina Khatri Shrestha’s daughter Monishka was 3-month-old. Too scared to stay inside her house in Charikot, Dolakha, Sajina’s family took refuge in a nearby school building. Everything was destroyed by the earthquake- houses, schools,…, UNICEF Supports the Contagious Campaigns, UNICEF is supporting the government of Nepal to strengthen its immunization system and to achieve full immunization status by 2017. Barpak is among 1332 out of almost 4000 VDCs and Dolakha is among 17 out of 75 districts of Nepal which are declared fully immunized so far. UNICEF is working side by side with the government and other development…