Dhading; Rasuwa; Nuwakot, Nepal – Nine-year-old Ram Thakur was walking uphill with his mother and dozens of other people escaping rising floodwater on August 26 when he turned around and saw muddy water rushing towards them.

Everyone began to run. His mother, who had been gripping his hand, urged him to climb more quickly. As the roar of the water mixed with cries from the crowd, she shouted: “Chhito maathi hinda, pachhaadi na-hera,” meaning, “Climb faster, don’t look back.”

Thakur followed her instructions and kept moving upwards. When he eventually turned around, floodwater was still churning nearby, but his mother had disappeared.

Almost four weeks later, Thakur remains waiting and wishing for news of both his mother and father. He is staying in a government primary school that has been converted into a temporary shelter in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, alongside 26 other children.

They are among more than 500 children housed in temporary shelters throughout flood-hit districts, with parents who are dead or still missing. Nepali law normally requires a person to be missing for 12 years before they can officially be declared dead. There is an exception for disasters, though family members must seek a judicial declaration of death through a district court.

For the moment, Thakur and many other children remain in uncertainty. On paper, they are not orphans. In reality, they have been left without their parents since floods killed more than 1,400 people and left at least 5,000 others unaccounted for.

‘They should have come by now’

August 26 had started as an ordinary school morning for Thakur. He was heading to school with his mother at about 8am when the flooding began. His father, a guide and driver, was still at home because his work day started at 10am.

Then they heard people yelling: “Daudanu, baadhi” – “Run, flood!”

Thakur walked, climbed and ran until he lost contact with his mother. He spent a day stranded on a hill with 13 others before an army helicopter rescued them. “I was very frightened and hungry. I thought I would die too,” he said. “My school bag, with biscuits and my lunchbox, was also washed away.”

While eating dal, rice and saag with the other 26 children at the shelter, Thakur said he could not understand why his parents had not come to look for him.

“Mummy and papa knew how to swim, so they should have come by now,” he said.

A counsellor at the shelter said Thakur still runs outside whenever he hears a helicopter nearby, believing it could be bringing his parents back.

An assessment conducted after the floods by Nepal’s National Child Rights Council and Save the Children found that more than 1,000 children were staying in temporary shelters. More than 100 had no relatives with them, while 439 were without their parents but accompanied by other family members.

More than 32,000 children were displaced by the flooding, and government agencies and aid groups are trying to identify them and reconnect them with their families, according to UNICEF Nepal.

So far, 18 children have been reunited with their parents.

‘She does not speak to anyone’

The shelter where Thakur now lives has eight rooms. Local aid groups have arranged six rooms with waterproof mats, bedding and soft toys, while bunk beds are being built for the children. Another room is used to store food supplies, and the final room is the kitchen. Most staff members are Nepal police officers, supported by nonprofit workers and a counsellor. They are all women.

About 100km away, at another children’s shelter in Dhading, four-year-old Shibani Tama has stopped speaking. Her mother and father have both been confirmed dead.

Those caring for her say she remembers little about the neighbourhood where she lived or about relatives who may still be alive. No family member has yet arrived to collect her. The only detail Shibani has shared with rescuers and counsellors is that she was at school when teachers led her and other pupils uphill.

“She does not speak to anyone. She will not let anybody comb her hair either. Even changing her clothes takes two or three days of persuasion,” said Yamuna Bhattarai, a caregiver at the shelter. “It is heartbreaking to see her and the other children in such severe shock. They urgently need psychosocial support.”

‘Only ones for each other now’

Some children who have lost both parents have never been taught basic tasks such as washing their hair, changing clothes or feeding themselves. Others, despite being young, have taken on the responsibility of caring for younger brothers and sisters.

Ten-year-old Sanju Lama was travelling to her grandmother’s home with her two-year-old brother in Rasuwa district, the area hardest hit by the floods, when strangers helped pull them to safety. Their home was swept away. Their parents, who were expected to be at home when the flood arrived, are still missing.

“Sanju is startled by loud sounds, even if someone simply calls her name,” Bhattarai said. “She keeps a tight hold on her younger brother’s hand almost all the time. She often wakes up frightened during the night.”

The girl spends much of her day reading English poems to her little brother. “They only have each other now,” Bhattarai said.

UNICEF says 18 schools across the affected districts have been destroyed, while another 20 have been damaged. The losses have taken away important places where children can study, play and begin to recover. Many schools in the region stand near riverbanks and remain vulnerable. About 10,000 school-age children now face an uncertain path back to education.

Help falling short

Nonprofit workers, counsellors and childcare staff at primary schools turned into shelters in Dhading say their attempts to help children feel secure are not always enough. Toys, books and play supplies have been provided, but only a small number of children use them. Many are quiet, distracted or too distressed to play.

Save the Children has given toys and learning materials to children in shelters. In some places, volunteers have observed children with missing parents “creating families, including parents, inside dollhouses”.

“These children may not fully understand what has happened or why it happened,” he said. “They have no idea what tomorrow will look like, or what their future holds.”

Many children are now living in crowded shelters with almost no privacy. Meanwhile, officials and aid groups must remain cautious when people come forward claiming to be relatives.

“Some children whose family members have been found remain in shelters when those relatives cannot provide enough documents or evidence of guardianship,” said a UNICEF child protection official. “This is to reduce the danger of trafficking or child labour.”

At the Nuwakot shelter, Thakur sat on the front porch eating an evening snack. He watched the sunset turn the sky orange, hoping a helicopter would appear with his parents inside. Instead, night arrived, and no helicopter came with it.