Nepal: Tin shack like 'royal palace' for man who lost his wife and home

Nain and his sons with their new 'palace'
Where once there were modest mud houses there are now rows of tin shacks. It's a scene common to many villages in the north of Nepal which bore the brunt of 25 April's 7.8 magnitude earthquake. More than six months after the devastation killed almost 9,000 people and destroyed thousands of properties, families that lost everything they owned are still waiting for help to rebuild their homes.
Nain Bahadur's house completely collapsed, trapping his wife Yashoda, 42. She died on the spot. The 48-year-old widower and his sons Ramkrishna, 12 and Nakul, 18, now live in a tin shack that they built, using donated metal sheets and bamboo salvaged from the wreckage of their home.
James Pender, programmes officer for The Leprosy Mission England and Wales (TLMEW) said: "Nain and his sons live in the tiny shack. The walls and the roof were all tin. But far from complain about the cramped quarters Nain said, compared to the tarpaulin shelter they lived in for a few months the tin shack was like 'a royal palace'. It was truly humbling."
Only the main cities and towns in Nepal have benefited from any repair and rebuilding. North of the capital Kathmandu, where the population is considerably poorer, the story is starkly different.
James said: "In the towns that I passed people were marking Dussehra , a Hindu festival that celebrates the victory of good over evil. In the Kavare district there were no celebrations - no music or kids in colourful costumes. As I got close to the top of the hill I saw several tin shacks. When the guide pointed out where the village had been I could not see any houses, just a pile of rocks.
"When I got nearer I saw the outline of some houses, like a doorway. I could only imagine the horror of when the roof came down and the walls caved in. It would have been almost impossible to escape if you were in any of those houses. It was total devastation."
All eight houses in the hillside village, located near the town of Melamchi, were destroyed. Five people died. Nain's wife was one of them."
Nain was diagnosed with leprosy as a teenager and has been a frequent visitor to the Anandaban hospital, supported by TLMEW.
He was cured of leprosy, but late treatment left him disabled and he depended heavily on his wife who earned a living by working in the fields.
"The family is clearly still devastated by her death," said James.
"Ramkrishna's haunted look will stay with me. The trauma is etched in his face. He mostly just stares ahead. He's clearly deeply traumatised and he's missing his mum.
Four other families in just that village suffered the same fate.
Read more about the Leprosy Mission here: www.leprosymission.org.uk/