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Page 6
“...very
real needs of some people, the damage is remark-
ably, fortunately, and unexpectedly limited com-
pared with the possibilities and most importantly
with other parts of Nepal. I say this because most
current international media continues to reinforce
longstanding spatial biases: that there is Kathman-
du, Everest, and the rest of Nepal, only vaguely
referenced or understood... [yet] the rest of Nepal
is where the problems post-earthquake are most
pressing, where little attention has been given to
the conditions of marginal Nepalis, and where help
is greatly needed in the immediate [...] I say this to
shine more light outside the city, on places which
are currently largely in the dark.
On April 25th, Galen Murton was conducting research in
Mustang district, where (despite not being classified as a
‘severely affected district’) damage to buildings and other
local infrastructures was significant and widespread.
After a few days conducting surveys of damage within
the villages near Jomsom,...”
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Page 7
“...we listening?
While Galen was en route to Kathmandu, we had a prelim-
inary conversation about damage patterns and perceived
gaps in the post-earthquake landscape. Our conversation
eventually shifted to Rasuwa, where we had both con-
ducted research together in the recent past (Murton, Lord,
& Beazley 2016) and which remained largely overlooked.
Rasuwa was centrally isolated between the ‘humanitarian
hubs’ being established in Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk
districts, and was largely (but unsurprisingly) cut off
from Kathmandu by the politically dominant district of
Nuwakot and chronic road access problems. Austin was
acutely aware of the destruction that had occurred in
Langtang and the massive uncertainties faced by dis-
placed survivors. Our colleague Bob Beazley provided a
detailed report on damage in Lower Rasuwa based on his
reconnaissance trip in the days immediately following the
earthquake. Our conversations with friends and research
contacts in Rasuwa also indicated that relief efforts...”
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Page 10
“...Displaced survivors from
the Langtang community gather to
perform funerary rites at Phuntsok
Choeling Monastery in Kathmandu
in June 2015, forty-nine days after
the earthquake. This Tibetan
Buddhist monastery also served as
their displaced persons camp.
(Lord, 2015)
Figure 5- In October 2015, Rasuwa
Relief team members and
collaborators walk through the
upper part of Langtang village,
which was leveled by the blast
from the avalanche (visible in
the background). During this
trip, we conducted a detailed
damage assessment that would
help facilitate the process of
resettlement and reconstruction.
(Lord, 2015)
teerism began to change following the second earthquake,
we made a multiple commitment to continue our work,
amid and despite the confusion.
Engagement and Praxis in the Post-Earthquake
Landscape
For two years after the earthquake, we worked as Rasuwa
Relief on a variety of different projects—ranging from
interventions focused on immediate humanitarian relief
to collaborative community-based...”
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Page 16
“...tasks
that circulated within a globally circulating humanitarian
‘scape’ populated by highly mobile disaster practitioners
(Appadurai 1990). See also Redfield (2013) on hyper-
mobility of crisis responders and the circulation of
humanitarian ‘kits’.
9. Oliver-Smith described similar experiences while
conducting research in the wake of a co-seismic avalanche
in Yungay, Peru (1986: 28-29).
10. While people in this region were, on average, relatively
well-off prior to the earthquake due to tourism in the area
(Lim 2008), the damage from the avalanche in Langtang
was on a scale seen nowhere else. Despite support from
several small NGOs, volunteer initiatives, and foreign
contacts the majority of people in Langtang did not have
the resources to rebuild.
References
Appadurai, Arjun. 1990. Disjuncture and Difference in
the Global Cultural Economy. Theory, Culture & Society 7
(2): 295-310.
Boltanski, Luc. 1999. Distant Suffering: Morality, Media and
Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press....”
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