Emily Anne Epstein
May 1, 2016 - 31 Photos
The photographer Renaud Philippe returned to the epicenter of last year’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake to document what progress has been made in some of the hardest-to-reach villages. Before April 25, 2015, Barpak was a picturesque Nepali village nestled some 6,000 feet above sea level. After, less than 20 of the 1,400 houses remained. “Many things changed since last year, but there is so much to do,” Philippe said. Because it is so difficult to reach, people in Barpak and nearby Laprak have no machinery and limited electricity to help rebuild their homes; all construction must be done by hand. “Everyone is hopeless about getting any government help,” Philippe said. “They can only count on themselves.” Philippe has shared a selection of his images from both 2015 and 2016 with The Atlantic. The first 15 images below are from the first few weeks after the quake and the second 15 were taken in April of this year.
An aerial view of Barpak on May 14, 2015. Nearly all 1,400 houses in the village were decimated during the earthquake on April 25, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
Volunteers from Pokhara, Nepal's second largest city, help clear a collapsed home on May 9, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
Buddhi Bahadur Gurung, 50, lost his wife in the earthquake. His daughter was also buried by the rubble, but she managed to get out alive. “I do not want to cry in front of my children, but when the night come I miss her,” he said on May 9, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
People line up to get supplies after the quake on May 13, 2015. Fortunately, water sources were preserved and pipes were repaired quickly. # Renaud Philippe
Two weeks after the earthquake, an NGO was able to provide some electricity to Barpak. Men, women, and children carried solar panels up the steep paths of the Himalayan mountains to power a generator, which in turn charged cell phones and allowed villagers to reconnect to the world on May 11, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
A woman mourns the death of her son in the April earthquake on May 8, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
A mountain road pictured on May 7, 2015, between the village of Baluwa and Barpak was cracked from the force of the earthquake. # Renaud Philippe
A portion of the village of Laprak was also completely destroyed by the earthquake. The inhabitants left their homes for camps like this on higher ground due to the threat of landslides. The Gupsi camp is pictured on May 13, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
Reti Gurung, 83, sits inside a tent in Laprak on May 13, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
A man carries a suitcase filled with supplies on May 13, 2015. Because of the steep paths to Laprak and Barpak, NGOs could not deliver aid themselves. Locals would carry what they could. # Renaud Philippe
Children play in the dust cloud created by an Indian Army helicopter in Barpak on May 9, 2015. Villagers tried to flee to Pokhara or Kathmandu. # Renaud Philippe
Two women carrying aid packages march up the mountain in single file on May 11, 2015. It takes hours to bring sleeping bags, rice, personal hygiene products, and tents to those who need them. # Renaud Philippe
A view of Barpak village on May 7, 2015. People looked through the debris hoping to find kitchen utensils, pots, clothes, or provisions. # Renaud Philippe
Women pray for the the 72 victims of the earthquake in Barpak's Catholic Church on May 9, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
A woman walks across the wreckage of Barpak in the shadow of the Buddha Himal mountain on May 7, 2015. # Renaud Philippe
On the one year anniversary of the earthquake, villagers from Barpak light candles in memory of the 72 people who died. # Renaud Philippe
A man works with a pickaxe on April 23, 2016. Without any construction equipment or electricity, villagers must rebuild the hundreds of decimated houses by hand. # Renaud Philippe
Young girls practice a dance on April 24, 2016, for the celebration to mark the first anniversary of the earthquake in Barpak. # Renaud Philippe
In anticipation of the president of Nepal's visit to mark the one-year anniversary of the earthquake, villagers work to clear overgrowth on April 23, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
Villagers look for their names on the government's aid list on April 23, 2016. In order to qualify for the aid, they must meet certain construction standards and have a bank account in the National Bank of Nepal. There is no bank in Barpak. # Renaud Philippe
A boy washes himself in Barpak on April 17, 2016. Life is slowly returning to normal, but the majority of villagers are still living in temporary shelters. # Renaud Philippe
Most residents of Laprak have not returned to their homes. They live in Gupsi, a temporary camp 3,000 meters above sea level, to avoid landslides. Gupsi is pictured on April 20, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
A woman sits inside her rebuilt home in Laprak on April 21, 2016. When monsoon season comes, she must leave it and join the others in Gupsi. # Renaud Philippe
People work together to rebuild a home in Barpak on April 19, 2016. Only a handful of houses were left standing after the earthquake. # Renaud Philippe
A woman carries water in Gupsi on April 21, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
A mother and her three children sit inside their temporary shelter in Barpak on April 22, 2016. They are still waiting for aid. # Renaud Philippe
A construction site in Barpak on April 17, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
Three elderly men sit in front of some of the rebuilt homes in Barpak on April 23, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
A girl watches her father working on a new house in Barpak on April 15, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
Women wash clothes at a spring on April 23, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
A woman looks out from her home in the Gupsi temporary camp on April 20, 2016. # Renaud Philippe
No comments:
Post a Comment