Ghar Sapana
On 12 May, 1,000 people had been reported killed and 1,311 injured in Nuwakot as a result of the earthquake on 25 th April. Highly affected were the northeastern VDCs of the district where reportedly all infrastructure and houses are destroyed and where there are a large number of casualties. As of 13th May, there have been no further deaths or injuries reported in Nuwakot as a result of the 7.3 magnitude aftershock that struck on 12th May.
Initial estimates based on Government data of damaged buildings in the affected districts, suggested that 51% of the population of Nuwakot have been affected by the earthquake.According to government estimates from 12 May 30,000 buildings were destroyed in the earthquake and 15,000 are partly damaged.
Even after three years of post-earthquake, many house owners are unaware about the government strategies and socio-technical facilities in their community. People lack lots of information that are available for their use. Thus, it is here the theatre approach has come as the major tool for the people to deliver all the required messages for them. Recently, ICST Nepal in coordination and support with Build Change Nepal has been working to support them with socio-technical facilitation. The program is funded by Government of India through UNOPS.
ICST Nepal came up with forum theatre play and named it as Ghar Sapana. This forum theatre is created on the topic safe construction, awareness, intervention campaign through forum theatre in Nuwakot. ICST has taken charge of performing 180 performances in different assigned places of Nuwakot.
The forum theatre method allows the audience to know about socio technical facilitation to help quake affected families rebuild their houses. The theatre approach covers 23,088 houses in Nuwakot and have a direct impact on the information that have to be delivered immediately to the people. Six months long project will help house-owners of Nuwakot ensure about the availability of facilities at their village.
The theatre approach supports house owners in ensuring access to materials, knowledge, technologies, and skills. The audiences through such approach become critical to promote safer reconstruction.
It is clear that those community people who are entitled to receive the housing grant provided by the government require hands on socio-technical assistance to build safer and code-compliant structures. Thus, it is this project that promises to address this need at the household level by delivering the messages of deployment of trained engineers, architects, and mansion and community facilitators. It is theatre through which people visually can feel each words the actors say and can easily follow the steps as stated by them to meet their own requirements.