“After mother died, father married again. That was when all the troubles started for me and my only brother. My step mother was very cruel to us. She never fed us so we had to rely on whatever the neighbours gave us out of pity. We both had become very weak and my brother was dying. So from a very early age I would do anything that would get me food. And I would come home and feed my brother. I remember my brother was sick and he had defecated behind the house and my step mother smudged the faeces all over his face. I also remember people in the society telling us that we were untouchables. We were called pigs who only cared about eating. I had accepted my life, my fate but I never understood why some suffer and others don’t. Why some people have everything and some have nothing? Why did god discriminate between his own creation? After, I got married, situation was still bleak at home. My husband, however, is a very good man, almost like a god. Though things are still difficult, I did not have to go through any physical and mental violence. Every time I am sick, he asks me to rest and he does all the work. He was also slowly making money by forging metal and making farming tools. We were finally hoping to buy a small piece of land and build ourselves a hut. We had nothing but we were hoping for a roof. And maybe, just maybe a better life. And then the earthquake happened, and we lost everything we had and we had to resettle here because of the landslides. We have lost hope. It’s been one year and there has been no help except for some bags of rice.” (Ramri Biswokarma, Ghumthang 7, Sundhupalchowk)