Sita Thami, a resident of Daduwa in ward 1 of Doramba-Sailung Rural Municipality, sits quietly in the small camp she now calls home. It’s been over a month since her home was rendered uninhabitable by a massive landslide on August 24. She describes how her infant son has been suffering from the cold, coughing frequently in the damp and harsh conditions. “Everyone else is celebrating Dashain, but our Dashain is under a tarpaulin,” she says, her voice soft but full of resolve. “Even though we have nothing, we will celebrate for the sake of the children, with the relief food we’ve received.”
The landslide that devastated the Daduwa area displaced 43 families, including Sita’s. Out of them, 18 families have managed to return to their homes after clearing mud and making temporary repairs, but 25 families remain in roadside tents and tarpaulin shelters. “We’ve been clearing the debris and making the roads passable so that at least vehicles can come through during the festival. No help came, so we—the victims—worked together to restore the roads,” Sita explains.
For these families, Dashain celebrations are starkly different. They are using their limited resources to create some semblance of normalcy amidst the destruction. While most villagers will adorn new clothes and partake in feasts, the victims of Daduwa are huddling together, sharing what little they have. “We plan to celebrate communally, under the tarpaulins. We have even made plans to construct a temporary communal shelter from the corrugated sheets we received in relief aid,” Sita adds.
In this remote, underdeveloped village, 25 families belonging to the minority Thami community are spending their days and nights under tarpaulins, struggling to stay warm and safe. Manju Thami, a mother who recently gave birth, is also preparing to observe the festival in the same dire conditions. “We’ve got nothing but this cold ground under the tarpaulin. Poverty and hardship have followed us, but somehow, we’ll make it through the festival,” she says. The relief aid has provided them with basic necessities like rice, salt, and oil, but the joy of the festival is dimmed by the circumstances.