Holistic Rehabilitation for Post-Earthquake Nepal

School-based interventions are crucial to helping children gain key psychological and social skills like problem management, self-awareness, non-judgmental acceptance, non-violence, communication and valuing diversity. This is particularly important in areas affecting by the 2015 earthquake, which are still in the process of recovery – both physical and social.

In Pharping, Nepal, IsraAID is training teachers in how to use art therapy to support their students’ mental health. An area with a high dropout rate, improving mental health support systems in schools will also encourage students to remain in education for longer, improving their long-term livelihood prospects.

Pharping municipality lies about 19km south of central Kathmandu. Although relatively close to Nepal's large capital city, there is a stark difference in development, lifestyle and access to basic necessities.

In the first few months of 2018, IsraAID has trained 36 teachers from 19 of Pharping’s schools in art therapy techniques. They will reach 3,285 students. For many teachers, this was the first time they had received any psychological support training.

One of the teachers trained by IsraAID said:

“Thanks to the IsraAid trainers for providing a platform where we were able to learn so many new things, many of which were new to me, despite my long teaching experience. The training helped me to understand the importance of students’ underlying emotions. Meditation and art therapy activities motivate children to be more active and to explore and bring out their internal capacities and strengths.”

Thank you for your generous support, which makes this program possible. More updates to follow ...

We are excited to share some updates from a busy few months in Nepal! The end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 saw real progress for the communities IsraAID Nepal works with. 

Theater program raising mental health issues continues:

Our theater program continues, reaching remote regions affected by the earthquake. Speaking on issues of depression, suicide and mental health, these theater teams continued to spread awareness regarding these crucial issues facing many in Nepal and providing connections to volunteers and counselors in the event an individual should need further care and support. As a part of this same program, Advocacy Officers who were trained by IsraAID began a five-month stint of engagement with local leadership and government in an attempt to incorporate mental health activities in the new political system.

After a recent school performance, a group of young girls approached the theater team asking who they can talk to about problems they experience at home with parents who use violence and punishment as means of controlling their actions. The theater team members spoke with the young girls briefly about their home-life, then referred them to the counselor who is from their district, trained by IsraAID to manage just such cases. This is not a unique scenario, in fact over 2,000 individuals to date have received one-on-one counseling and referral from the same mechanism.

New Partnerships:

IsraAID Nepal and SOS Children Villages Nepal signed a historic agreement this week, in which the two organizations made a deep commitment to furthering the capacity of SOS to integrate Mental Health services into their operational ethos. In a country where the importance of one's mental state is not always recognized as being of equal importance as physical health, it really is wonderful to see SOS take such a crucial step. We are honored to embark on this landmark program alongside the dedicated staff of SOS in Nepal. 

New community collaboration in Sindhulpalchok

Getting ready to start a new holistic community resilience community project! Life in many areas of Nepal remains 'suspended' after the earthquake, leaving whole communities without proper infrastructure or support to live productive, healthy lives. Recognizing the importance of having access to fundamental rights in life including education, health, clean water, and income; this year, our team will explore how to work with local community leadership to create various interventions to lead to an increase of quality of life for a single community in rural Sindhupalchok.

New HoneyAID communities and a bee haven in our office!

Continuing our efforts to work with HoneyAid in expanding their services to two new communities, we supported the training and beehive distribution to 110 women in two new villages. Each community received a ten-day training then hands-on support once the new beehives were distributed to the households. The first honey harvest of 2018 was also performed for our three other existing co-ops, in which we helped the women harvest the honey from their individual beehives, sell it for profit on the market, and redistribute the earnings back into the co-op. Through this process each participant receives a small income as well as benefiting from social activities sponsored by their co-ops.

As HoneyAid expands and reaches more people around the country, we have created a small bee haven at our office in Kathmandu! So far, HoneyAid has successfully helped hundreds of women learn the art of beekeeping, and connecting their products to a market, allowing them to begin the journey of financial sustainability. We are proud to work with another HoneyAid member and open our garden to these hard workers! 

The Education and Livelihood Project (ELP)

The Education and Livelihood Project (ELP) for orphans affected by the earthquake is continuing its scholarship support for 28 students enrolled in higher education. As part of this initiative, we provide full scholarship for these students, along with counseling and workshops to improve their scholastic performance while providing coping tools for any mental trauma or stress they feel as a result of their situation. So far, this component has yielded good results as all students are still enrolled into their second year of schooling, and we fully expect all students to graduate by the end of 2018. With the additional support provided by IsraAID and SOS staff we hope to set these youth onto a productive and healthy path for being active members of Nepali society.

Safe water post floods:

In December, IsraAID Nepal and JISP completed their target of providing 300 households with safe water through a filtration system distribution. The Terai region has notoriously unsafe water with high-levels of pollutants including iron, sulfur, and arsenic. Thanks to the hard work of our mobilization team these houses will now be able to keep themselves healthy and free from a host of ills found in the water. More gratifying than the incredible amount of work put into realizing this project, are the smiles and signs of relief upon the faces of those mothers who can now prevent their children from facing multiple illnesses just from quenching their thirst. 

More updates to follow, thanks for your ongoing support!