It has been eight months since the massive earthquake hit our country. I pray for all the traumatised quake survivors who still have to sleep under the sky in this cold, with nothing but an almost shattered hope to hold onto. I hope that they get roofs, they get clothes and blankets.

I feel sorry for their tears in memory of the lost ones. I think of the mothers dried without nutrition. I care for the infants who cannot be nourished. I feel shocked to think of the old and chronic who are deprived of indispensable

dosages of medicines. My heart aches when I see grim pictures of children, the delicate and innocent victims of this disaster.

Every moment I think of these people, a listless and desperate face comes to my mind. I see that hope, embedded in the deepest part of their eyes, betraying them as time has betrayed them. Do they deserve this?

It is not just the donors, social workers, volunteers and NGOs who have to toil for relief work. It is the responsibility of our government: our system has to lead in all relief and reconstruction projects. It is our system which must understand the urgency of the situation. But has it? This is where our system fails.

Our system has hardly ever got leaders who could make a difference, who were committed and ready to sacrifice. Our system has failed to use law against crime and corruption. It has failed to secure its people. It has failed to understand values and instinct. It has failed to address the crisis that ensued after the catastrophe. Why?

And ultimately all these flaws question one thing—our future. It is effortless to boast about our history and think that our future will blossom. How much has the nation been able to inspire me and the youths my age? Will the children out there shivering in the cold lead this nation someday with a body and soul exhausted of enough suffering? What impression has the system given to this generation?

It doesn’t work like this. We need exemplary leaders. We need a wave of change. We need unity. We need commitment. We have to stay strong. It is not late yet, it is tough for the wounds of today to heal and give a new start. And this fact can’t be easily ignored. Our future will be stuck in a limbo of broken dreams, hope and instability; it will become no more a place where humanity exists.

Pant is an A-levels student at Budhanilkantha School