Seven-year-old Hikka Kumari Deuja of Ghumthang, Sindhupalchok, stopped going to school after she lost one of her arms in the April 25 earthquake last year.

Hikka Kumari, who was buried under the rubble of her collapsed house, was

rescued three days after the earthquake. Rescue personnel had amputated her arm to free her from the wreckage.

“Before the earthquake she was a third grader at Saraswoti Secondary School. She had to discontinue her school after losing the arm,” says Hikka Kumari’s

grandfather, Indra.

Several children, who were maimed in the earthquake, have stopped going to school.

 In Ghumthang alone there are at least 15 children who have lost their limbs. Their disabilities have hindered their education, because many of them cannot even walk to their schools.

Eleven-year-old Suresh Tamang of Listikot village lost his right leg in the

earthquake. He spends most his time at home these days. Like Hikka Kumari, he too has stopped going to school.

“I have difficulty walking with one leg. I cannot go to school in this condition,” he says. Local authorities have no record on the number of

children maimed in the earthquake, but some social organisations say there are

at least 35 such children in Ghumthang, Marmin, Listikot, Gati and Tatopani.

“Many children could still be undergoing treatment or left the district after the

earthquake,” says District Child Rights Officer Balkrishna Basnet.

According to Basnet, 949 children in the district died in the earthquake while 45

others were orphaned.