Sushma is a single mother who has the responsibility of fourchildren on herself. She lives in Chautara Sangachowk-1, Sindhupalcho district. Without the support of her parents, Sushma grew up facing many hurdles. When she got married, she thought she had a chance of a better life but it wasn’t the case. The first few years of her married life went well but her husband’s alcohol dependency became problematic and a constant source of stress. He would sell anything that was valuable in their house to feed his addiction. Sushma lost her husband to family conflict three years ago and the reason was of course alcohol.

Like many earthquake survivors, Sushma’s house was destroyed during earthquake on 25th April 2015. Sushma with grief said, “The earthquakes had badly damaged our house. We lived in tent for months.” Today, she lives in her neighbour’s house on rent. Among her four children the eldest two have grown up.

Despite the challenges of being a single mother with very poor financial condition, Sushma is determined to have a safe future for her children. She has received the first and second tranche amount of NRs. 50,000 and NRs. 150,000 respectively to rebuild a safer house. SSE as a implementing partner of JICA TPIS-ERP Package 7 has involved nine mobile masons for the construction of her house. With this involvement, the construction has been completed up to the roof band. She oversees the construction of her new home and plans to complete it before Dashain. She exclaims, “I feel proud that while many families with both the parents have not started rebuilding their house, I have come so far alone.”

Sushma has also received extra support from technical assistance team of TPIS-ERP Package 7 in important decisions regarding the layout, design of the house, access to mobile masons, and close monitoring to ensure safer construction.

Although she has no specific source of income, she wants to have a place of her own that her children can call home. She stated, “I cannot live in someone else’s house forever. I need to have my own house. If you have the willpower to fight the circumstances, anything is possible. I plan to move in our new house in few days.”

Sushma looks forward to the house being a safe haven for her family.