Surya’s Story

It was the 25th of April 2015 around noon, when Surya was enjoying her meal at home in Nepal. Suddenly, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck.

Her father-in-law called to her to get out of the house, but she didn’t make it in time. The roof fell in and trapped her.

Without the help of her mother and father-in-law, the quake would have killed Surya.

Read how Surya managed to survive the 2015 Nepal earthquake and to rebuild her home using ShelterBox aid.

In Surya’s village of Phataksila, the devastation was terrifying. The earthquake had destroyed home after home, while many people went missing.

Her son had been playing outside at the time of the quake, and no one could find him.

As soon as Surya had recovered from the shock of almost dying, she started to look for her son.

Thankfully, he was safe and unharmed. He had been playing in an open field at the time – if he’d been at home, he might not have survived.

The family wasn’t able to salvage much from the house. However, they managed to create a makeshift shelter from old pieces of corrugated iron and wood.

We were able to help Surya and other families in her village with shelter kits to help mend and create shelters.

In addition, we also provided training on how to use the shelter kits to rebuild homes that were more sturdy.

Surya’s family used the heavy-duty tarpaulin to make a waterproof shelter, which provided them with a sturdy temporary shelter before they created their new home.

Surya not only used the tools included in the kit to help secure the structure, but to dig the fields and replace crops that were destroyed by the power of the quake.

We helped provide shelter for almost 68,000 people left homeless after the Nepal earthquakes.

However, our work never stops. Disasters and conflict around the world mean that there are families in need of shelter 365 days a year.