Mr. Baija Nath MukhiyaMr. Baija Nath Mukhiya is an active member of the landless community for the ongoing shelter project (under implementation with support from UNDP/UN-HABITAT and Lumanti, a national NGO). He is married, with two sons and one daughter all below 9 years. They attend a local government school in Haripur.
To make ends meet, Baija collects wood from Kohi River, selling his produce across the Indian border. He complements these earnings with fishing, earning, an average NRs 100 – 200/day. Yet this is still insufficient to meet the family daily expenses. When required, Baija earns additional income by undertaking manual labour for neighbors.
Cooking in the new houseFortunately they found the ways to further increase their earning capacity. Baija and his wife managed to get are contract from other landless families to back fill foundations and mud plaster walls, and earn 700 NRs/ unit completed, this work normally takes 3 days to complete. To date, they have secured 11 contracts to back fill and plaster walls, and 3 contracts for just mud plastering the walls. Baija was also engaged in the house perimeter pegging, earning up to 200 NRS/day.
The family outside their new housePrior to the Koshi flood he lived in a small house that was destroyed by Koshi River and lost all his possessions, bar including oxen. The family was forced to live for months in the compound of relatives, erecting a shelter using relief donated tarpaulin sheets. Baija is delighted to have been selected for landless resettlement, coupled with land a house and WASH facilities. Baija has the unique of being he first person to complete and resettle in the core house. He officially moved in to their shelter at the end of May 2010.
Now that they have their own house and land, the family plans to establish a small vegetable plot to complement their food needs.
