Rebuilding Nepal by Hand

The photographer Renaud Philippe returned to the epicenter of last year’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake to document what progress has been made in some of the hardest-to-reach villages. Before April 25, 2015, Barpak was a picturesque Nepali village nestled some 6,000 feet above sea level. After, less than 20 of the 1,400 houses remained. “Many things changed since last year, but there is so much to do,” Philippe said. Because it is so difficult to reach, people in Barpak and nearby Laprak have no machinery and limited electricity to help rebuild their homes; all construction must be done by hand. “Everyone is hopeless about getting any government help,” Philippe said. “They can only count on themselves.” Philippe has shared a selection of his images from both 2015 and 2016 with The Atlantic. The first 15 images below are from the first few weeks after the quake and the second 15 were taken in April of this year.