In the hands of the young

The Jai Kishan Secondary School in Gangapur, Banke—which has around 300 students—was hit hard during the recent monsoon-induced flooding in the area. Once the water had receded and school authorities stepped in, it was to find piles and piles of debris everywhere—in the classrooms, toilets and the grounds. This effectively dashed any hopes of bringing the students back into the classrooms anytime soon: the debris would first have to be removed, which was a time and effort-consuming task, and there was the threat of snakebite and other risks to consider.

Nine days later, however, the school was back on its feet, premises cleared. This was all thanks to the group of youth volunteers who had come from Nepalgunj to support the school in managing post-flood debris. “We appreciated their efforts a great deal, and what’s more, after seeing the work they were doing, some of our own students from higher classes were inspired to join in the endeavor, allowing us to reopen the school much sooner than we had hoped for,” the school’s principal said.

The volunteers were mobilized as part of a broader campaign—coordinated by UNDP’s Social Cohesion and Democratic Participation (SCDP) Programme—bringing together several youth volunteer clubs to extend support to flood-ravaged communities in coastal areas of the Rapti river in Banke. These volunteer teams have been primarily engaged in tasks such as debris management, and setting up and rehabilitating kitchen gardens and toilets damaged in the disaster.

When floodwaters breached the area on 12 August, many organizations had rushed in to help. But once rescue operations had concluded and relief goods been distributed, there was the pressing need to set the affected communities on the path to recovery. And it was in this space that the youth volunteers were keen to step in.

So, with the help of SCDP, five youth groups—Cheers Creative Nepal, Creative Peace Volunteer Club Himalayan Climate Initiative, Bageshwori Asal Sashan Club and Information and Human Right Center, the last two of which are SCDP grantees—converged at residential camps in Banke to discuss and plan the role they could play in restoring normalcy to flood-hit areas. To that end, SCDP also partnered with Sparrow SMS, a tech company, to help volunteers better coordinate and manage their activities.

Among the community entities that benefitted from the young volunteers’ assistance was the Madrasa, where too rooms had to be cleared of debris and sand before classes could start running. Expressing his gratitude for their active, selfless support during such a painful period, the Maulana talked about how the youth were excellent role models for the rest of society. “They really brought the community together…. They proved that the bond of humanity is far more powerful than anything else, beyond the divisions of religion, caste, ethnicity and geography.”

The experience also had a deep impact on the volunteers themselves. One of them, Bimal Bhandari, who was part of the team that helped community members in Matehiya restore their backyard gardens and plant vegetables, said that seeing how the locals responded to their efforts was extremely rewarding. “It was a great opportunity to interact with the community and impart to them the values of volunteerism—many were very excited and even joined us in our work,” he said.

Further examples abound: Some volunteers shared that while community members were initially a bit cynical about them, as they came to be better acquainted, and it became clear that they were just young college-going people who only wanted to help them through a difficult time, locals became more responsive.

“Once, when we were working, the mayor of Narainapur Municipality was passing by in his jeep, and he stopped to ask us what we were doing in such scorching heat,” volunteer Khem Bista said. “When he learned that we were volunteering, he was very appreciative and asked everyone around us to support us in our endeavor, which gave us a real motivational boost.”