Ramdhar Sahani- A beneficiary story
At the time of the earthquakes of 2015, Ramadhar Sahani and his family were inside their home. Ramadhar and his wife managed to run out of the house, however their son could not escape in time and was buried by the crumbling house. Luckily, they managed to rescue him from the fallen structure and he was not badly injured. Ramadhar recalled how he thanked God for the safety of his entire family.
The house was damaged completely. However, with no financial means to rebuild, the family improvised some changes and have remained in the unsafe structure since the earthquake. As they lived on public land, Ramadhar was able to be listed as a landless beneficiary and received the extra top-up to buy land and rebuild from NRA/GMALI. His luck improved even further when a Community Messenger from Piplatar TSC visited his temporary shelter to inquire about his rebuilding. She informed him of the STFC support for landless beneficiaries through the Visualization Village concept. After hearing this, Ramadhar was able to buy land collectively with other beneficiaries, to become part of the five families receiving this support from the STFC.
As a beneficiary of the visualization village, Ramadhar received extensive support from the STFC. Support was provided in the form of masons, on-the-job training (OJTs) for his wife and daughter and support to finance the materials needed to build the village. In addition, the STFC provided a free architectural drawing, assistance with registering in the municipality and close technical monitoring of each stage of construction.
Ramadhar’s wife and daughter have contributed financially to the family throughout their time working as OJT participants. This income has been important to the whole family and helped with financing materials needed to rebuild. In addition, Ramadhar notes that his wife and daughter have learnt important skills through the OJTs. He remarked how they have learnt to use cement rods to build earthquake resilient structures, which they then teach to him and their broader community.
Having started the building of the visualization village in November, 2019, Ramadhar is now ready to move into his new home, thanks to the work of OJT participants, close guidance and monitoring of the on-site engineers and builder trainers. To mark the significant occasion, the STFC held a hand-over celebration to the homeowners of the visualization village during the month of December, 2020. Having handed the structures over, Ramadhar and the other homeowners are now ready to move into their new safe and compliant home, without fear of danger if another earthquake was to strike.
