Baby resting
Betrawati 2000

A few houses down from where I stayed, a baby rests on a blanket. The floor beneath him and the walls surrounding are smooth and a warm terra cotta color. At his feet sits an hourglass shaped stool where his mother may sit when she has a free moment.

If a baby has an older sister or brother they are usually put in charge of watching them during the day. You'll see boys and girls, some only a foot taller than the babies, carrying them on their backs as they walk about.

On a trip to Trishuli, some nine kilometers away, I passed a mother fixing up a shawl to help keep the baby on her daughters back. The girl carrying her sibling must have been about four years old. As I walked into Trishuli about an hour later I saw that, passenger and all, the young girl had beaten me.

If you would like to donate to Mercy Corps’ Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.

If you would like to donate to UNICEF’s Nepal Earthquake fund please click here.