Humanitarian Aid and Resilience: A Study of Rural Nepali Educators' Perspectives on Coping and Adaptability in Recreating an Educational Learning Environment for their Students after the 2015 Earthquakes

Abstract

The 2005 Hyogo Framework pointed to the need for countries to increase resilience at the local level and reduce the need for international aid. Nepal, considered a “fragile” state per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), received significant international aid to meet the aims of Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. When the 2015 earthquakes struck, international aid for education only reached 1% of the youth impacted. This research investigated educators’ perspectives of responding to and recovering from the earthquakes through a mixed-method, multisite case study to answer the questions: As reported by the UNOCHA Education Cluster 3W report, what is the relationship between the intensity and type of humanitarian aid received (school kits, recreation kits, temporary learning centers and teacher training) by schools in the 14 worst earthquake-hit districts, and the distance from Kathmandu and school population? What are the perspectives of community educators on the level and type of humanitarian aid received after the 2015 earthquakes? What coping capacities did educators utilize in order to establish an educational learning environment for their students after the 2015 earthquakes? What adaptive capacities did educators utilize in order to establish an educational learning environment for their students after the 2015 earthquakes? My research found that educators possessed individual resourcefulness, initiative, and personal strength in addition to community trust to respond to the disaster. Educators lacked access to consistent disaster risk and preparedness information. Lastly, rural educators with connections obtained international aid raising perceptions of inequitable distribution of aid.