KATHMANDU: Children of a small village in Dolakha district today interacted with children of their age living around 500 kilometres away from them, in Sunawal of Nawalparasi district, about effects of the massive earthquake on them last year and ongoing reconstruction efforts.

The interaction was possible after UNICEF Nepal launched the first of its e-interactions between children from quake-affected districts and those of western Nepal today.

"Through video conferencing technology, the children were able to bridge the physical divide and exchange their experiences, and also have a bit of fun in the process," the UN agency said in a statement today.

"The experiences shared by the children in Sunkhani, some of them in lyrical format, dealt more with what they went through during and after the earthquakes of 25 April and 12 May 2015. Children from Sunawal, on the other hand, shared with their peers across the video screen their efforts in nurturing the child-friendly concept in the community to make their municipality Nepal’s first child-friendly municipality."

"The e-interaction  - “Sunkhani Dekhi Sunawal Samma” (Sunkhani to Sunwal)--  is the first of many experience sharing e-interactions that UNICEF will be conducting to connect children from districts affected by the 2015 earthquakes with children in other parts of the country which can potentially be affected by earthquakes in the future," the statement read.

UNICEF is planning to conduct the second e-interaction in November, when children from Barpak, Gorkha, the epicentre of the April 25 earthquake would be connected with children in Bajura district in the far-west, according to the statement.

The e-interaction was held with the technical support from Changa Foundation and Meeting Point today.