Where they live:

May 1, 2015 · 4 min read

This is what home looks like for Nepalese earthquake survivors

“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”

Maya Angelou wrote that about her journey to Ghana, a journey to find the home in her heart.

The idea of home is one of those things that is malleable. When you move, home eventually becomes your new surroundings, even though where you grew up might still also feel like home. Home is as much a feeling of comfort as it is a physical place.

In Nepal, hearts and homes were broken last week by a powerful 7.8 earthquake and a series of strong aftershocks.

More than 130,033 houses were destroyed and 85,856 houses partially damaged, according to the UN.

Left: A woman examines the damaged caused by the earthquake on her house on May 1, 2015 in Kalchowk, Nepal. Right: A man stands inside his damaged home on May 1, 2015 in Kalchowk, Nepal. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

A woman packs her salvaged belongings inside a sac on May 1, 2015 in Harisiddhi, Nepal. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

Thousands who were in Kathmandu left for their home villages to find peace. In the rest of the country, they waited for help, sleeping outside in sometimes rainy conditions.

People at make-shift shelters in the fields near their destroyed houses. (Rabi Shrestha/Demotix)

For some, home didn’t exist anymore, but they were still kind to strangers.

Home became refugee camps, set up with makeshift tents made out of colorful cloth and blankets.

The UN estimates there are at least 24,000 displaced persons living in 13 camps. That number shows just part of Kathmandu — there are 16 camps and at least 83 open-air makeshift camps in the city — not the whole of Nepal.

Above: A woman places a blanket on her families tent at the temporary camp for earthquake evacuees at Tundikhel Park on April 30 in Kathmandu, Nepal. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Below left: Children play amongst tents at the temporary camp for earthquake evacuees at Tundikhel Park. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Below right: A woman lays under a mosquito net inside her tent in a temporary shelter organised by the community on May 1, 2015 in Harisiddhi, Nepal. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

Above, left: Residents stand in front of their tent in a temporary shelter set up by the community on May 1, 2015 in Harisiddhi, Nepal. (Omar Havana/Getty Images). Above, right: Victims of the earthquake charge their mobile phones on the street on May 1, 2015 in Melamchi, Nepal. (David Ramos/Getty Images)Below: A young girl stands behind a blanket used as a temporary wall inside a shelter set up by the community for people affected by the earthquake on May 1, 2015 in Harisiddhi, Nepal. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)

Sanjip Khadka had a home where he lived with his family, including his mother and father. They told Demotix photographer Julien Brebion that they can only access one room of their house. They left their house on April 25 leaving many possessions behind.

Above, Sanjip Khadka at his home. Bottom, the cracks that have formed everywhere in Khadka’s home, and a photo of Bimala Khadadka (Sanjip’s mother). (Julien Brebion/Demotix)

Now they share a tent with six other families in a refugee camp for Swayambhunath Stupa.

Khadka’s whole family, in the current makeshift home. (Julien Brebion/Demotix)

While Khadka left his crumbling home behind, others are trying to rebuild the home they have.

In Bhotechaur, Getty photographer David Ramos captured the Ghomenath Chaulagain family working to fix the damage to their home. The whole family is helping, even the children.