Reconstruction
The Himalayan village of Milung no longer exists. Where a house stood, only a doorway remains, surrounded by stones that rained down in a rockslide. The earthquake took 38 lives in this tiny community, more than 8000 across this rugged, isolated Himalayan country.
Parma Singh Tamang showed us around what used to be his home, a rock climbing exercise today. Household items lay strewn about as if time had stopped. A bed. Pieces of clothing. A propane tank. A sewing machine. It's unlikely this town will every be rebuilt, and the villagers, displaced to a makeshift camp in a life marked by shortages, weather extremes and uncertainty about their future.
A year after the deadly earthquake, reconstruction here has barely begun. The government promises money to earthquake victims, but politics, corruption and a lack of confidence in government have convinced some Nepalese to start reconstruction on their own.
Images and caption by Richard Coolidge. Nepal, 2016.
For more reporting by Richard Coolidge and Fred de Sam Lazaro with NewsHour, visit their project, “Brick by Brick: Reforming South Asia’s Brick Kilns.”