After the village of Rangwar was destroyed in the earthquake, the 82 families who lived there moved to a clearing in nearby Dragyari on the road to the towns of Tangdhar and Udi in Indian Adminstrated Kashmir.

ActionAid’s emergency response team met the villagers a few days after the disaster and has been working alongside them as they rebuild their lives.

From survival to land rights.

Food rations, tents, soap and other essentials helped the Rangwari’s to establish a new settlement and survive the winter.

Now ActionAid is backing their struggle for a permanent home – returning to Rangwar which is in ruin, has no road access and is highly vulnerable to cross border shelling is not an option.

Permanent homes

The villagers face opposition from the forestry department which claims to own the land at Dragyari.

While the government has promised to provide land, to qualify for full state compensation, survivors must have started building permanent concrete houses. That can’t begin until the Rangwaris are given permission to stay, either on this land or at a site nearby.

“We say please just give us small pieces of land to construct houses,” says Maqbool Khan one of the villagers.

“The rest we will manage. We don’t want the whole of India, only 10 marlas (about 250 square metres or the equivalent of a small tennis court) each."

Livelihoods

The villagers sometimes work as labourers carrying supplies for the army, the largest employer in the area, but otherwise jobs are hard to find.

Through ActionAid’s cash-for-work scheme, families have earned a daily wage constructing community buildings - such as a school. mosque and small canal - and more permanent homes (sheds rather than tents). Widows and single women have been supported in setting up small shops from their homes.

Back to school

Now Dragyari has a (temporary) school building, ActionAid and the villagers have worked with local government to persuade the teachers to return.

The new school started out teaching up to class 6 (primary) but when it reopened after winter (in April 2006) it was upgraded so that children can now study to class 8 (middle school) in their own village rather than traveling long distances.

Shaping the future

ActionAid is supporting the Rangwaris to come together and set goals for the development of their village and put pressure on government representatives to engage with democratic community organisations as they strive for a brighter and safer future.

The campaign continues.