Rebuilding Nepal - Launched March 7, 2017 - Full multimedia experience: audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - On April 25, 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. Two weeks later, a second one hit. Almost 9,000 people were killed and over 22,000 injured. More than 80% of Nepal’s population lives in rural areas, most in homes made of stone, mud, and thatch. Some 3 million people, including women and children were displaced and an estimated 800,000 buildings are destroyed or severely damaged. The earthquake impacted the livelihoods of 2.3 million households and 5.6 million workers, and up to 90 percent of enterprises in the worst-hit districts. Migrant workers in some 50 brick factories near Bagmati in central Nepal are working overtime producing bricks for the reconstruction effort in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 quake. The kilns have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because of the high quality local clay, a popular raw material for the bricks. The kilns have a rectangular brick wall the size of a football field, with a tall chimney at its center. Workers pile raw bricks in rows inside the kiln prior to covering them with a layer of dirt. The kilns burn at up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit continuously for the brick production season, which lasts almost the entire winter. The brick makers of Nepal, will be busy for years to come supplying the raw materials for this huge reconstruction project.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 4, 2017 - Kathmandu, Central Development Region, Nepal - Construction workers rebuild one of the shrines at Swayambhu Stupa. The stupa was badly damaged in the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Recovery seems to have barely begun nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley, workers are working by hand to remove rubble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Wet bricks are loaded onto a donkey that hauls the bricks to a kiln at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Women carry wet, unbaked, bricks into a kiln at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 1, 2017 - Bungamati, Central Development Region, Nepal - An exterior wall fell off this home in Bungamati during the 2015 earthquake. The home is not usable. Recovery seems to have barely begun nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove rubble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bhaktapur, Central Development Region, Nepal - Workers rebuild one of the Hindu temples in Bhaktapur's Durbur Square. Bhaktapur, a popular tourist destination and one of the most historic cities in Nepal was one of the hardest hit cities in the earthquake. Recovery seems to have barely begun nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove ruble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Workers carry unbaked bricks from the fields where they're molded to a kiln for drying at a brick factory. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Workers carry baked bricks to waiting trucks while other workers stack wet bricks in the kiln for baking at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Workers deliver bricks to a waiting truck at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Women who work at a brick factory near Bhaktapur, take a break in the kiln at the factory. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - A worker carries baked and finished bricks to a waiting truck while other workers, in the background, stack wet, unbaked, bricks in the kiln at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. The wet bricks are gray in color. They turn their characteristic red after they are baked in the kiln. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Workers load bricks into packs to carry them to a kiln at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bagmati, Central Development Region, Nepal - Workers use molds to form bricks from clay at a brick factory near Bhaktapur. The bricks will lay out for one or two days and then taken to the kiln (the smokestack in the background) for baking. There are almost 50 brick factories in the valley near Bagmati. The brick makers are very busy making bricks for the reconstruction of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and other cities in the Kathmandu valley that were badly damaged by the 2015 Nepal Earthquake. The brick factories have been in the Bagmati area for centuries because the local clay is a popular raw material for the bricks. Most of the workers in the brick factories are migrant workers from southern Nepal.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 2, 2017 - Sankhu, Central Development Region, Nepal - A worker digs out a home in Sankhu partially destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. There is more construction and rebuilding going on in Sankhu, west of central Kathmandu, than in many other parts of the Kathmandu Valley nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove ruble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 5, 2017 - Kathmandu, Central Development Region, Nepal - A worker hands a tray of cement to a co-worker on a construction site that is rebuilding a building near Kathmandu's Durbar Square destroyed in the 2015 earthquake Much of Kathmandu is now a construction site because of rebuilding two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove ruble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 2, 2017 - Sankhu, Central Development Region, Nepal - Laborers carry dirt away from a home destroyed in the 2015 earthquake and still being dug out in Sankhu. Almost all of the work is being done by hand. There is more construction and rebuilding going on in Sankhu, west of central Kathmandu, than in many other parts of the Kathmandu Valley nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove ruble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 3, 2017 - Bhaktapur, Central Development Region, Nepal - A Nepali craftsman carves stones that will be used in a Hindu temple in the reconstruction of Bhaktapur's Durbur Square. Bhaktapur, a popular tourist destination and one of the most historic cities in Nepal was one of the hardest hit cities in the earthquake. Recovery seems to have barely begun nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove ruble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 2, 2017 - Sankhu, Central Development Region, Nepal - Women do their laundry at a public tap in front of a storage depot for construction and rebuilding supplies in Sankhu. There is more construction and rebuilding going on in Sankhu, west of central Kathmandu, than in many other parts of the Kathmandu Valley nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove rubble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 1, 2017 - Khokana, Central Development Region, Nepal - A woman and her child in an informal IDP camp in Khokana. Their home was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. Recovery seems to have barely begun nearly two years after the earthquake of April 25, 2015 that devastated Nepal. In some villages in the Kathmandu valley workers are working by hand to remove rubble and dig out destroyed buildings. About 9,000 people were killed and another 22,000 injured by the earthquake. The epicenter of the earthquake was east of the Gorka district.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 4, 2017 - Kathmandu, Central Development Region, Nepal - A woman feeds her chickens in an IDP camp in the center of Kathmandu. The camp opened days after the April 2015 earthquake devastated Nepal, killing almost 9,000 people. At its peak, about 1,800 families lived in the camp. The camp is still open nearly two years after the earthquake, about 400 families currently live in the camp. Camp residents say the Kathmandu municipal government is trying to close the camp and is encouraging residents to find new housing. They said the government is cutting off services to the camp and last week stopped the free distribution of water, although water can be purchased for delivery. Most of the people in the camp came to Kathmandu from rural villages in the mountains in the weeks after the earthquake. Many of the residents of the camp, technically homeless, have found work in Kathmandu's bustling construction industry, rebuilding homes destroyed in the earthquake.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
March 4, 2017 - Kathmandu, Central Development Region, Nepal - Girls play a hopscotch type game in an IDP camp. The camp opened days after the April 2015 earthquake devastated Nepal, killing almost 9,000 people. At its peak, about 1,800 families lived in the camp. The camp is still open nearly two years after the earthquake, about 400 families currently live in the camp. Camp residents say the Kathmandu municipal government is trying to close the camp and is encouraging residents to find new housing. They said the government is cutting off services to the camp and last week stopped the free distribution of water, although water can be purchased for delivery. Most of the people in the camp came to Kathmandu from rural villages in the mountains in the weeks after the earthquake. Many of the residents of the camp, technically homeless, have found work in Kathmandu's bustling construction industry, rebuilding homes destroyed in the earthquake.
© Jack Kurtz/zReportage.com/ZUMA Wire
