Quake survivors migrate for work

Excerpts from conversations in Kathmandu before the departure of Jajarkot candidates for Malaysia in March 2024 under a responsible recruitment drive. This is the 52nd edition of Diaspora Diaries, a regular column about migration in Nepali Times.

Janak Bahadur Singh

I primarily work in agriculture. There are very few employment options available for us back in Jajarkot. I used to earn about Rs11,000 per month but that fluctuates. 

Sometimes it could be as much as Rs25,000, and at other times we had no income at all. We did not get regular work so I usually went to India for a few months.

I was there when the earthquake struck Jajarkot just before midnight on 3 November 2023, and returned to be with my mother and wife. They had been provided with a small tent, so I brought a bigger one with me from India. 

My recently built house was damaged, but thankfully no one died. It will cost Rs900,000 to rebuild. We have a temporary house with Rs25,000 support from the government, and we need money urgently to rebuild. If I have money I can hire people even when I am away. If I had to pay recruitment fees for the job in Malaysia, I would have considered going back to India.  

My main goal in migrating is to rebuild my house. If there are any additional savings, I plan to invest in a walnut and orange orchard.

If someone gives me a sack of rice in aid, I want to earn the other sack on my own. That is why I am migrating. 

Srijung B K

It was exactly 11:47 at night when the earthquake hit. I was awake because we had been celebrating a relative’s birthday. 

That probably saved my life. Had we been sleeping, the house would have collapsed on us breaking our bones. We had never experienced an earthquake before, but my parents had. 

My old house was completely destroyed. People from the village stopped by to see if we were ok. The earthquake killed the goats in our shed. 

Six members in my friend’s house were killed, and I helped the Nepal Army, APF, and police teams in removing their bodies.

We have been living in a tent ever since, exactly like we were in the days after the quake. Somehow, we survived the winter. We received support like food, utensils and tents. We are still building a temporary shelter. 

I hope my foreign earnings will help me build a permanent house. I do not know about the government’s reconstruction plans, but am hopeful that it is just a matter of timing.

I was already planning to go abroad since I had recently got married and my responsibilities had increased. I was willing even to pay recruiters a fee for getting me a job overseas. 

But now I got this opportunity to go at zero cost. If I had to pay, I would have to borrow at a 60% interest rate. This job will help me financially in the longer term: we can rebuild our house, and take care of my family without having to worry about loans.

Hari Prakash Chanara

Mother, I’m leaving my motherland,

With hopes of earnings

I am nurturing my dreams …

Don’t say that your son will forget his home, mother

Don’t say that your son will forget his home, mother

I am finally taking steps to build a future.

I worked as a school teacher and am the only earning member in my family. My salary was Rs15,000, but was not paid regularly. It was difficult to find a job in our village for which we had to be politically well-connected, and willing to beg and kowtow to powerful people. 

Without a political protector, you cannot find a job, and even if you get it there is always the risk of losing it.

I used to go to India off and on for 2-3 months and bring home about Rs25,000 in savings. While I did not lose family members to the earthquake, we got affected financially as our house got damaged and is inhabitable. 

Reconstruction has not begun because we do not have the Rs700,000 needed for repairs. During the first winter after the quake, people lived in tents for 4 months and it was a struggle. Now we received the first installment for construction of a temporary house. 

It is better than living in a tent which was cold and people fell sick to fever, typhoid during that time. We coped by drinking warm water and also got support from various organisations. The local government has committed to take action and we are hopeful that they will support us with reconstruction. If not, I will reconstruct my house with my own earnings.

I come from western part of Jajarkot, where agriculture is not sufficient to support you even for three months which is why we go to India or other districts in Nepal. I am not sure how this job in Malaysia will help me, I will find out once I get there. 

I know there will be challenges, but I will face them and with my savings rebuild my house and take care of my family. There are people I know who have paid Rs450,000 to recruiters for similar jobs to mine in Malaysia. My friends at first did not believe that I paid nothing. 

Now they regret not applying because they too could have been able to rebuild their homes.  

Bhadra Bahadur Raut

I was sleeping when the earthquake shook the house. We ran out just as the walls collapsed around us. We lived in a tarp tent but could not sleep properly. 

We received donations like food, clothes and blankets. The permanent reconstruction has not yet started, but we have now moved to a temporary shelter.

There is not much work in our village. My father is a contractor so I go to his site to work as a foreman. These days, I am not working. I did construction work in Qatar which allowed me to send home Rs35,000 a month but they sent me back after 15 months into my contract because of the 2022 World Cup. 

I had paid Rs250,000 for the job and it took me 13 months just to repay the loans. I returned and went immediately to India to Himachal to pick apples. Depending on how much we were able to carry we would earn anywhere up to INR1,500 a day.

I am going to Malaysia to work because the earthquake worsened my situation. With my savings, I will first build a good shelter for my family. I want to support my wife who is preparing for a government job and also pay for my daughter’s education. 

It would of course help to be close to my family, but I have to migrate to send money to hire workers to rebuild our house. The interest rate charged by loan sharks was 36-48%, but because of zero cost migration, I did not need to borrow money to get my job.

Bimal Rana

If the earthquake had lasted for 2-3 seconds longer, I do not think we would have survived. Our house was destroyed, but we managed to get the children out. We lost grain, property, clothes but thankfully, everyone survived. We could not do much about the house so we helped in the search and rescue. 

I did whatever work I could in the village and earned Rs 20,000 a month, but the income was not fixed. I have previously migrated for work in India and Malaysia. I managed to save some money and was planning to use part of it to pay for recruitment costs.

Even though we faced difficulties during the earthquake, we tried not to panic. We received tents initially, and later the government supported us financially to build a temporary shelter which is where we are living now. 

We managed to salvage some of the food items that were covered in mud and rubble after the earthquake. The government has now promised permanent housing support.

I feel good about migrating as I have to support my family. But I also feel sad about leaving my family behind. I am also sad that my friend with whom I had traveled to Kathmandu for the job interview did not pass. We live close by and do everything together, and having him with me in a foreign land would have made things easier there.

Mamilal Sharma

I work on the farm, and this does not provide enough income. The primary earner in our family is my wife, who is a teacher. My poor financial situation hindered my education, but I am committed to supporting my three brothers with their education. I also have two children studying in Surkhet and have to pay Rs4,000 in fees every month.

Getting a job is difficult for people like us who are not well-connected despite having a teaching license. I have done several stints in India, including as a packager in a plastic factory and as an apple picker. Our family can rely on agriculture for about eight months a year, but there are families who cannot sustain themselves even for six months.

Our house collapsed in the earthquake. We stayed in tents until the government provided support for temporary housing which we built ourselves to save money. We also had to build a separate livestock shelter. It was a bitterly cold winter, particularly for the elders and children. 

We have not yet begun reconstruction of the house. I am going for foreign employment to support my family and for my children’s education. I want to build a new house, even if it is small. 

I can care for my family staying in Nepal, but to ensure a bright future for my children I have to migrate overseas. I was planning to go abroad for work, and had made a passport. But obtaining a loan was a challenge. 

I have advised my father and wife to open bank accounts so I can send them money regularly to spend and save as needed.

Khadak Bahadur Singh

I run a utensils shop back home which is now being handled by my wife. I used to do side gigs such as collecting herbs. I have never been without work a single day. I do whatever work I can get, even if it means breaking stones.  

I have gone to collect yarsa in Dolpa in the mountains where breathing is difficult. I have carried apples, cut timber, carried stones during my stints in India. There is no work that I have not done. Work suits me.

I have also worked in Malaysia previously for three years that helped with my family expenses. I am going back again to reconstruct a house for my family and my elderly mother. Previously, I paid Rs450,000 with a high interest loan so I could not save much. 

I was sleeping at my sister’s house when the quake struck. I saw cracks opening up in the walls, and tried to escape but the door was stuck. I somehow managed to push it open and ran out. I called my family to see if they were okay and was grateful to know they were. My house did not collapse, but it was dangerously damaged. We lived in a tent. 

We have received the first installment of Rs 50,000 from the government for a temporary shelter. It is not enough but we are doing what we can. For permanent housing, I will combine government support and remittance. It is uncertain when and if they will provide support.

I also want to invest more in my utensils shop and make sure we can provide whatever our customers need.

For now, cash is the more urgent requirement which is why I am migrating overseas. What can we do? We are born in a country where we can dream, but not earn.  

Money is the biggest support I can provide for my family right now. Remembering the song चालिस कटेछी रमाउँला, I will work hard there as it is now my time to earn.

And because we are going for free, without paying a recruitment fee, we do not need to beg, take hefty loans, listen to threats from moneylenders, and can live in peace. That money we did not have to pay is like our earnings for reconstruction. 

Even without this offer, my wife and I had decided that I should go overseas even by taking a loan at 60% interest. But borrowing even that rate is difficult these days. We would have had to go to the moneylender’s house five-six times just to make the request and convince him.

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Translated from conversations with the authors. Diaspora Diaries is a regular column in Nepali Times in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working, studying abroad. The previous 51 columns can be accessed in this ebook.