Nepal River Basin programme
Helping communities deal with flooding.
For many poor communities in Nepal's low-lying Terai region, flooding is a recurrent fact of life. Being prepared for the inevitable can mean the difference between life and death. Oxfam's River Basin Programme helps people prepare for the yearly floods.
Photo: Oxfam
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In Rampur village, Oxfam has been working with local partner, CDM (the Centre for Disaster Management), to help the community better prepare for, and cope with, flooding.
Around 4,500 people in the district are affected each year by flooding caused by a combination of monsoon rains and water flowing down from the mountains.
Photo: Laura Eldon
Oxfam has been working with the community to raise the level of 200 of the most vulnerable families' homes to protect them from flooding.
This has proved so popular that many other families have copied Oxfam's design and rebuilt their homes to the same specification.
Photo: Laura Eldon
Dulchi Devi Harijan is a member of the Rampur community preparedness task group. Her house was one of the homes raised by Oxfam.
During the last flood we travelled by boat. I had water up to my nose and I can't swim. My house was completely covered with water, all the way up to the roof. But then my house was raised by Oxfam and now, during the floods, I'm safe.
Photo: Laura Eldon
In Rampur, our programme has also involved building raised latrines for the community. This helps prevent the spread of disease during times of flooding.
Photo: Laura Eldon
Here, Suman Chaudhary pumps water from a raised Oxfam hand pump in Rampur. On the wall behind her is an Oxfam mural with public health messages.
Photo: Laura Eldon
Sumitra Atreya is a Social Mobiliser, trained by CDM.
My job is to mobilise people in the community, to teach them to clean up the area by the taps, and about water filters. You should have seen these women two years ago. It was so difficult to get them to attend meetings. But now they have fights over who will be a member of a the committee.
Photo: Laura Eldon
In order to help community members stranded during particularly bad flooding, Oxfam has provided Rampur village with an emergency rescue boat that is moored nearby.
Photo: Laura Eldon
Rajendra Prasad Misra is the Chairperson of the Rampur Saving and Credit Co-operative.
People have died when the floods come and houses collapse. We're much more aware of the issues and what we need to do when a flood hits now. CDM has created a revolution in us and our understanding of natural disasters.
Photo: Laura Eldon
