Nepal floods expose risks to hydropower

In the aftermath of devastating floods along the Nepal-Tibet border, Tsering Gelbu Lama remains conflicted about how to convey his wife's death to their 4-year-old daughter. As he tends to his newborn child, Lama expresses deep concern for preserving their unique culture in the face of displacement. He laments the erosion of community traditions as young people migrate to cities, questioning how he can pass on ancestral knowledge to future generations if his own has been disrupted.

Nepal is home to over 120 ethnic groups, each with distinct languages, rituals, and festivals that have been transmitted through generations. Rasuwa, a district along the Nepal-Tibet border, is renowned for its distinct Buddhist culture and Indigenous communities. Survivors now residing in makeshift shelters described their villages as lush forests inhabited by bears, deer, and butterflies.

Monasteries, once vibrant centers of cultural life, have been destroyed by recent floods, leaving displaced individuals with little more than the clothes they wore during evacuation. The loss of cultural heritage is compounded by the loss of heirlooms and the absence of adult caregivers to pass on traditions to children. Save the Children estimates that thousands of children need humanitarian assistance, with an unknown number having become orphaned.

Monasteries, once vital repositories of cultural knowledge, have been destroyed, leaving a void that threatens to further erode the community's cultural identity.