Man Bahadur Kuwar, and Gorikala Sunar, are a blind couple who live in a cowshed in the Bhotanchaur Village, Jumla. Originally from Sarmigaun, the community in their home village will not let them live there. “We are not accepted by the society because we married outside our castes,” says Kunwar. Before the pandemic they were […]

‘Wash Your Hands To Avoid Corona’ say slogans on top of the 11 tanks and washbasins in Lalitpur set by Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), the company that manages Kathmandu Valley’s water and sanitation. These 11 tanks, along with bars of soaps, were set up in March to help residents to avoid infection. Four months […]

“The number of cases was already going down, shops were opening, people were feeling safe to get back to work. There was a sense of normalcy returning to Birgunj. But that didn’t last long because the cases started surging. We heard that people are dying in hospitals. Now there is a curfew in the city. […]

Nepal’s Finance Minister announced last week that the lockdown had been lifted. Immediately afterwards, doctors and public health experts were already seeing a surge in cases of COVID-19 infections. Three days in, Birgunj has declared an indefinite curfew to control the virus. “I am really worried. Lockdown has been extremely difficult and they say that […]

“If the government had thought this through, we would not have been in this situation again. I am scared. Entire Nepal is open, but Birgunj is under curfew. There is news of new infections every day. How do we survive when everything is closed? What do we eat? We should have been careful. We did […]

Last week 100 houses were destroyed in Milanbasti and Sadakwari, Jhapa when Kankai river flooded, destroyed the embankment and swept the houses in the two villages. Majority of houses destroyed belonged to the Santhal community, one of the most marginalized indigenous groups in Nepal. People saved their lives by climbing on the rooftop of their […]

Uttam Devkota, 28, is a community medical assistant and was deployed at the Tila quarantine facility in Jumla for 22 days. “I looked after the sick and the neglected,” says Devkota. Before he wrapped up his work at the quarantine centre, his two colleagues tested positive for coronavirus. Fortunately, Devkota’s test was negative. “I knew […]

  For the last two months Photo.Circle 2020 grantees have been reporting from all over Nepal. You have read stories from Jhapa by Parwat Protel @parwatportel7 , from Jumla by Krishnamaya Upadhayay @purnimashahi572020 , Padam Bhatta @padambhatta255 has been reporting from Kailali, Nitu Ghale @eastern_keen from Lalitpur, and Madhuri Mahato @mmhisimmy from Parsa. Check @nepalphotoproject […]

Puja Devi Paswan, 33, of Bagahi, Parsa, had a baby two months ago. She lives in a hut with her husband. Her kitchen has the bare minimum–there is a stove in the middle of the room, a bed on the side. What she worries about her pantry–it is running low on basic food supplies. “We […]

For 20 years Ramesh Kumar Dahal, 50, has been in classrooms standing in front of blackboards teaching the next generation. Lately, however, a smartboard has replaced the blackboard. When Dhulabari Secondary School switched to online teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dahal needed to adapt to this sudden change in the teaching module. “ I […]