I am Amita and I want share how my life was before and has changed after the earthquake.

I am 14 years old and I am studying eighth grade. I have two brothers and a sister. Together we walk two and a half hours every day to go to school. My father is a farmer, and the expenses of our education are clearly a burden at home. That is why we have to help as much as we can with work at home, and sometimes it is difficult to combine this with studies.

The earthquake which took place on the night of 3rd November, destroyed half of my house in Kuse Rural Municipality-09 Jajarkot. It was horrible. I feel very afraid since that day and the worst thing is, I feel scared to go to sleep since then. My previous life wasn’t the easiest, but we were fine. However, since that night it is nightmare.

As a result of the earthquake I lost my books and notebooks and that made me very, very sad. When two weeks after the earthquake the school reopened, I had nothing, no pencils or notebook or anything. Also, returning to school and not having all the teachers there was also horrible and made me feel very sad. I got stuck in fear and was surrounded by the negative thoughts. I was having a terrible time and didn’t know how to ask for help.

That’s when the school organized a session to address fear. You can’t imagine how important that session was for me. I was able to explain what I was feeling and they helped me stop feeling so afraid, regain confidence and understand natural disasters. They also gave us advice on how to act in the event of an earthquake.

After the group session, I was able to have an individual session. In this they also shared the information so that we know how to avoid falling into the hands of trafficking networks.

Finally, they gave us hygiene kits, clothing and school material.

That day was the first day after the earthquake that I managed to find calm within myself. Suddenly, everything that was weighing me down, my old clothes, having my period, not having school material, everything, became something much easier.

You really don’t know how much these support sessions have meant to me.