Goodbye 2018

Year 2018 was a motley ragbag of the good and the bad. Looking back, it was yet another fulfilling year blessed with good health and family happiness overall.

Like the monsoon which offers life and energy while afflicting floods and landslides at the same time, 2018 enriched our lives to an extent and left some stark and painful marks.

One week of cruise in the Mediterranean was not only a life-long dream accomplished but also a perfect time to re-establish the bond with nature, something I had been missing for many years. Two additional weeks of holiday in Nepal provided freshness and much needed break from work. It was my brother’s wedding and hence a perfect time for family gathering and celebration. 2018 was also the year when our daughter started nursery and it was a joy watching her grow.

2018 also came and ended with some pain and tragedy. Two dear friends passed away in an untimely age leaving us in deep pain and consternation.

As for some interesting reads, I came across two amazingly influencing books: Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela and Glimpses of World History by Jawaharlal Nehru. These two towering personalities of the 20th century have so much to offer the world. In addition to the wisdom and wit they present, their delicate and touching human side is bound to amaze and move readers. Others, to name a few, included Politics Beyond Extremes by Nick Clegg, What Happened by Hillary Clinton (her own narrative about the failed presidential campaign) and How Google Works by Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg. Then came Healed, Manisha Koirala‘s story of her triumphant battle against her late-stage ovarian cancer, that is both resourceful and inspirational to patients and readers alike. On the fiction side of things, A Wild Sheep Chase (羊をめぐる冒険) and A Perfect Day for Kangaroo (カンガルーの日和) by Haruki Murakami were worth remembering.

Politically and socially, I think Nepal finally became very stable in 2018, something that we longed for the last 25 years. Despite a lot of negative fuss in the press, there is a lot of positive vibe and hope and confidence in the country. The direction and pace of social development may not necessarily be the epitome we would desire, but we undoubtedly are heading towards to the right direction on the whole. That is not to say we are free of challenges; especially in the areas of social justice, governance and all forms of equality, we have a long way to go.

2019, here we come.

Help Prayash !

To all the contributors of crowd-funding which enabled me to distribute Justa-pata in Gorkha, a big thanks to you again.

As previously stated in the completion report, a total of the NRS 16,559 was in the balance.

I am happy to announce that NRS 20,000 (the above amount + NRS 3,441 from me personally) has been donated to Prayash Poudel of Ghatbesi, Bhimsen Village Municipality, Gorkha. My sister handed it over to him and his family earlier last month.

Prayash, 16, has been suffering from joint infection. While he has been discharged after over a month in intensive care unit in Kathmandu Medical College, he is yet to fully recover.

He and his family have a poor background and are survivors of the Great Gorkha Earthquake of 2015. They were also recipients of a share of Jasta-pata distributed by the same donation drive.

We wish Prayash all the best and a speedy recovery.

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बुढीगण्डकी: मुअब्जामा तँछाड-मछाड गर्न छाडी एक पटक सोच्ने कि!

बुढीगण्डकी जलविद्युत योजना वास्तविकतामा परिणत हुँदा (यदि भएमा) आसपासको क्षेत्रमा विकराल सामाजिक-आर्थिक समस्या पनि बढ्दै जाने खतरा छ । यस विषयमा राज्य र स्थानीयस्तरमा समयमै पहल गर्नु आवश्यक छ ।

प्रभावित क्षेत्रमा मुअब्जा बाँड्न थालिएको समाचार पढ्दै गर्दा, यसै क्षेत्रको स्थायी बासिन्दाको हैसियतले, केही लेख्न मन लाग्यो ।

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निकै वर्ष भयो, प्रत्येक पटक घर फर्कंदा सुनिने “हल्ला”हरू सधैं उस्तै उस्तै । अब दुई महिनामा मुअब्जा बाँड्ने रे, फलानो ठाउँमा त आइसक्यो, यति वर्षपछि यस्तो हुन्छ रे, आदि आदि ।

धेरै स्थानीयहरूमा पैसाको बिटो बुझ्ने हतारो देखिन्छ । “बुज्रुक” र “ठालु”हरू आ-आफ्नो “बिटो” झनै बाक्लो बनाउने कसरतमा लागेका छन् । व्यवहारिक रुपमा एउटै छानोमुनि बसे पनि कागजमा सकेसम्म धेरै ‘एकल’ परिवार (nuclear family) बनाउने लहर प्रत्येक धुरीसम्म फैलिएको छ । वर्षौंसम्म गाउँबाहिरै बस्नेहरू यही “मौका”मा “छाप्रो” बनाउन फर्किन थालेको सुनिन्छ । यदाकदा, दशौं वर्षअगाडि पढाउनको कञ्जुस्याइँले छोरीलाई बिहे गरी पठाइदिनेहरू एकाएक “अलिकति भए पनि” अंश छुट्याइदिन ललायित देखिन्छन् ।

“नियम”ले दिएसम्म सबैले बुझुन्, त्यसमा केही गुनासो भएन । यस लेखको प्रयास – यो लहर अन्तत्वगोत्वा निराशामा परिणत नहोस् भनेर सचेत गराउने मात्रै हो । र यो लेख, यसमा दिइएको तर्क अनि उदाहरण, र दिन खोजिएको मेसेज कुनै नकारात्मक सोचको उपज होइन, धरातलीय यथार्थ हो ।

‘राष्ट्रिय गौरब’को यो परियोजना बन्नुपर्छ, यसमा दुई मत हुन सक्तैन । तर यस भेगको “माटो” र “मान्छे”को यथार्थलाई बुझेर बहस गर्ने हो भने, मुअब्जा बाँडिएपछि र डुबान शुरु भएपछि प्रभावितहरूलाई कस्तो भविष्यले पर्खी बसेको छ, सोच्नु मनासिब हुनेछ । बुँदागतमा रुपमा केलाउँदा :

१) प्रभावित भेगका बासिन्दा प्रायः सबैको ऋण छ । त्यो कृषि बिकास बैंक या गाउँकै साहूहरूबाट लिएकै किन नहुन् ! कसैले भैंसी-पालनको ऋण लिएर छोराको बिहे गरेका छन्, कसैले खेत बन्धकी राखेर बुहारीको उपचार गराएका छन् । गाउँका पसल, मिल, वल्लाघर-पल्लाघरको उधारो तिरेतारो त छँदैछ । मुअब्जा बुझेको निकै रकम शुरुमै यस्तैमा जाने देखिन्छ ।

२) यस भेगका अधिकांश बासिन्दा सोझा कृषक छन् । त्यसमाथि अनपढ छन् । धेरैलाई पैसालाई व्यवस्थित रुपमा प्रयोग गर्ने क्षमता नै छैन भने पनि अत्युक्ति हुँदैन । उनीहरूले नयाँ ठाउँमा अंगाल्न सक्ने पेशा भनेको कृषि नै हो, उनीहरूलाई चाहिने जग्गा नै हो । आयोजनाको सेयर दिएर, वा आयोजना बनिसकेपछि जागीर दिने सपना देखाएर पनि हुँदैन । किनकि ‘पढेलेखेका’हरू धेरै जसो शहर र बिदेश पसेका छन्; वास्तविक विस्थापित त गाउँमै हलो-कोदालोमै बिताउनेहरू हुन् ।

३) चल सम्पत्ती, खर्च हुने ठाउँ दशथरी हुन्छन् । कसैलाई यही मौकामा दुबई-कतार जाने इच्छा पलाउला, कसैलाई २ तोला सुन किन्ने सपना होला, र कसैलाई छोराछोरीलाई महँगै स्कूल-कलेजमा हाल्ने आँट आउला । धेरैले दारु, मासु, र ‘मेरिज’मा पनि “लगानी” गर्नेछन् । उमेरदार छोरा-छोरी हुनेहरूलाई गच्छेभन्दा अलिकति माथि उक्लेर विवाह र भोज-भतेर गर्न आँट बढ्ला । गाउँमा पसल भएका एक भाइले भूकम्पको राहत बाँडेपछि पसलमा दारुपानीको बिक्री ह्वात्तै बढ्यो भनेर केही हप्ता अगाडि फेसबुकमा लेखेका थिए ।

४) पैसा बाँड्नेबित्तिकै वरिपरिका जग्गा र घर-घडेरीको मूल्य आकासिने छन् । र प्रभावितहरूको अहिले जति जग्गा छ, त्यसको धेरै कम क्षेत्रफल मिल्नेछ । वरिपरिका बासिन्दाहरूलाई पनि तत्काल जग्गा बेचिहाल्नु पर्ने बाध्यता पनि त छैन – उनीहरू भाउ दह्र्याउने मौकामा बस्नेछन् । जग्गा व्यापारमा सरकारले नियन्त्रण गर्न नसकेको यथार्थ त काठमाण्डौं या चितवन आदि ठाउँहरू हेरे पुग्छ ।

५) कि त मुअब्जा एक मु्ष्ठमा बाँडेर तत्काल गाउँ छोड्न लगाउन पर्छ । नत्र, वर्षैपिच्छेको महंगी (inflation) लाई बिचार गर्ने हो भने, पैसाको भाउ (value) घटिसकेको हुनेछ । अहिलेको १ लाख पाँच वर्षपछि त्योभन्दा धेरै कम मूल्य बराबर हुनेछ । त्यसले विस्थापित बासिन्दालाई हात मुख जोर्न आवश्यक जग्गा नपुग्ने निश्चित छ ।

६) बुढीगण्डकी आसपासमा डुब्ने अधिकांश जग्गा टार र सम्म भागहरू पर्छन् । पहाडी भेगमा भए पनि यिनमा बढी उब्जनी र सिंचाइको सुबिधा छ । विस्थापित बासिन्दा वरिपरिको जग्गामा बसाइँ सर्ने हो भने सिंचाइ र सुबिधाको हकमा अहिलेकोभन्दा कमसल ठाउँहरूमा चित्त बुझाउनु पर्ने हुन्छ ।

७) र यो पनि सत्य हो कि – बुढीगण्डकी आसपासका टारका औसत बासिन्दाहरू वरिपरिका डाँडाका बस्तीहरूको तुलनमा बढी सुखी छन् । यी टारहरूमा बस्ती पनि बाक्लै छन् भने सामाजिक सद्भाव पनि निकै हदसम्म उदार देखिन्छ । राजनीतिले गाँजिए पनि संकुचितपन र झै-झगडाहरू कम छन् । परिश्रम गर्नेहरूको लागि दुई छाक खानको लागि त्यति समस्या छैन । यदि यिनीहरू वरिपरिको समाजमा थुप्रिने हो भने नयाँ ठाउँका कठिनाइ र भेदभावलाई आँकलन गर्न गहारै पर्ने देखिन्छ ।

यी आदि कारणहरू ध्यानमा राख्ने हो भने एकाध अपवादलाई छोडेर प्रभावित क्षेत्रका बासिन्दालाई मुअब्जामा आउने रकम उल्टै घाँडो हुने निश्चित छ । पैसा मात्रै बुझेर आ-आफ्नै ढंगले तितरबितर हुने हो भने ठुलै सामाजिक र आर्थिक असर पर्नेछ ।

यो परिवेशमा डुबान क्षेत्रका स्थानीय बासिन्दाहरूले पैसा लिन तँछाड‍-मछाड गर्ने, यति चाहिन्छ उति चाहिन्छ भनेर बार्गेनिङ् गर्ने समय यो होइन । बरू पूनर्वास कहाँ गर्ने, कस्तो समाज निर्माण गर्ने भनेर सोच्न र सम्बन्धित निकाय घचेट्न आवश्यक छ । अहिले जत्तिकै फराकिलो र मलिलो जग्गा सट्टामा पाएर, अहिलेको जत्तिकै वा बढी मिलेको बस्ती बनाउनेतर्फ अग्रसर हुन पर्छ । होइन भने सक्नेहरू चितवन-काठमाण्डौं सर्ने र नसक्ने-सोझाहरू सुकुम्बासी हुने कुरा अवश्यम्भावी छ ।

उसो त, भूकम्पपछि सुकुम्बासीसरह बस्नु परेको बाध्यात्मक यथार्थ त हामीमा छँदैछ ।
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Yahoo Data Breach

Received this email from Yahoo two days ago regarding recent data breach. Now what? Where’s all the personal email information and data gone ?

If you are one as well, which I believe you are, consider changing passwords. But then, what is stolen is stolen and is probably resting in some state’s private server waiting to be opened. The most frustrating part of using free Internet-based services.

Ref:

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NOTICE OF DATA BREACH
Dear XXX,

We are writing to inform you about a data security issue that may involve your Yahoo account information. We have taken steps to secure your account and are working closely with law enforcement.

What Happened?

Law enforcement provided Yahoo in November 2016 with data files that a third party claimed was Yahoo user data. We analyzed this data with the assistance of outside forensic experts and found that it appears to be Yahoo user data. Based on further analysis of this data by the forensic experts, we believe an unauthorized third party, in August 2013, stole data associated with a broader set of user accounts, including yours. We have not been able to identify the intrusion associated with this theft. We believe this incident is likely distinct from the incident we disclosed on September 22, 2016.

What Information Was Involved?

The stolen user account information may have included names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords (using MD5) and, in some cases, encrypted or unencrypted security questions and answers. Not all of these data elements may have been present for your account. The investigation indicates that the stolen information did not include passwords in clear text, payment card data, or bank account information. Payment card data and bank account information are not stored in the system we believe was affected.

What We Are Doing

We are taking action to protect our users:

We are requiring potentially affected users to change their passwords.
We invalidated unencrypted security questions and answers so that they cannot be used to access an account.
We continuously enhance our safeguards and systems that detect and prevent unauthorized access to user accounts.

What You Can Do

We encourage you to follow these security recommendations:

Change your passwords and security questions and answers for any other accounts on which you used the same or similar information used for your Yahoo account.
Review all of your accounts for suspicious activity.
Be cautious of any unsolicited communications that ask for your personal information or refer you to a web page asking for personal information.
Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from suspicious emails.

Additionally, please consider using Yahoo Account Key, a simple authentication tool that eliminates the need to use a password on Yahoo altogether.

For More Information

For more information about this issue and our security resources, please visit the Yahoo Security Issues FAQs page available at https://yahoo.com/security-update.

Protecting your information is important to us and we work continuously to strengthen our defenses.

Sincerely,

Bob Lord
Chief Information Security Officer
Yahoo

बाँचेका मान्छेहरू

बीबीसी साझा सवालको ४२८ औं अंक अविस्मरणीय रहनेछ ।

भूकम्पमाथि विजय गरेर सामान्य जीवनमा फर्कन संघर्षरत सिन्धुपाल्चोकको एउटा सानो गाउँलाई चित्रण गरिएको यस कार्यक्रम मार्मिक र सान्दर्भिक त यसै छ, व्यक्तिगत रुपमा झड्का दिने किसिमको पनि रहेछ ।

सम्झेर ल्याउँदा …

म यस्तै पाँच-सात वर्षको हुँदाखेरि प्रत्येक विहान एउटै परिचित दृश्य दोहोरिरहेको सम्झना छ । म हाम्रो पहाडको घरको दलानमा सुत्थेँ । ब्यूँझिएपछि खाटबाटै पूर्वपट्टि हेर्ने दिनचर्या हुने गर्थ्यो । घरदेखि तल खोलासम्म कुहिरोले ढम्म ढाक्थ्यो । चिसो स्याँठले सिधै ठोक्ने हुनाले ओछ्यानमा पलेटी कसेर बसे पनि पुरै शरीरलाई सिरक गम्लङ्ग ढाक्नु पर्ने बाध्यता थियो । क्षितिजबाट कुहिरो र दुई डाँडाको बिचको भागलाई छिचोल्दै मध्ये आकाशतिर सूर्य बढेको रोमाञ्चक दृश्य देखिन्थ्यो । त्यसपछाडि दैनिकी शुरु हुन्थ्यो ।

गाउँ-पाखा, डाँडा-काँडा, टाढाको पँधेरो, हिलो माटो, भीरको बाटो, खाली खुट्टाले हिंड्ने बच्चाहरू, लुगलुग काम्दै हिंड्ने मानिसहरू, जाडोमा पनि कट्टुको सहारामा रहनुपर्ने बाध्यता, १४-१५ वर्षैमा बिहे हुने चलन, कोदाको ढिंडो, बिरामी परेर सुतिरहेका बुढा-बुढीहरू । यी सबै कुरा अधिकांश पहाडी भेगका गाउँका बस्तीहरूको कथा हुन् । र आफ्नै गाउँमा पनि त्यो सामान्य थियो । र यिनै रहन-सहनका दृश्यहरूबीचमा अर्को दिन बित्थ्यो । यस्तै जीवनशैलीमा अभ्यस्त हामीलाई योभन्दा माथि उठेर सोच्ने क्षमता नै थिएन : एक त सानो उमेर, अर्को सबैको उस्तै जीवनशैली ।

अहिले फ्ल्यासब्याकमा हेर्दा : त्यसपछाडि बसाइँ सरियो, शहरमा पढियो, बिदेश भासियो । यसबिचका अवसर अनि परिश्रम आ-आफ्नै ठाउँमा छन्, तर जिन्दगीमा धेरै उथलपुथल आइसकेको छ ।

‘हाम्रो गाउँका मान्छेहरूको दुख कहिलेदेखि सकिएला ? यहाँभन्दा शहरको जीवन निकै उच्च हुन्छ रे । सानैमा बिहे गर्न मन छैन । पढेर यही गाउँको लागि केही गर्न सकिन्छ ।’

बीबीसी साझा सवालको ४२८ का नायक-नायिका पात्रहरूले यस्ता कुराहरू गरिरहँदा तिनै जीवन देखियो : गाउँ-पाखा भीरहरू, रमणीय सूर्योदय, चिसा कठ्याङ्ग्रिला रातहरू, कपडा नपुगेका बालक-बालिकाहरू, बालविवाहको पहल, बिरामीहरू, आदि । र उनीहरूका प्रत्येक शब्दले स्मृतिस्पटलमा राम्रै झड्का दिए ।

यद्यपि केही दशक अगाडि मैले भोगेको यस्तै प्रतिनिधि समाज र सिन्धुपाल्चोकको अहिलेको बस्तीमा एउटा ठुलो फरक चाहिं देखियो : त्यो हो चेतना । दुखलाई दुख भन्न सक्नेहरू, नपुगेको कुरा पुगेन भन्न सक्ने विद्यार्थीहरू, र विशेष गरी उजेली जस्ताका बीचमा गुम्सेका उकुसमुकुसहरू बाहिर निकाल्न सक्ने साहस । अलिकति मौका पाउने हो भने सम्भावना प्रचुर छ ।

भूइँचालोमाथि विजय गर्नु त अवश्य छ नै ।

PS: सम्पादक दिपक भट्टराईजीलाई स्याSSSSSSSनो सुझाब : कार्यक्रमको अन्त्यको तीस सेकेन्डको भाग (जहाँ टिम विवरण, क्रेडिट, आदि दिइन्छ), त्यो बेलामा दुई-तीन मिनेट अघिमात्रै स्कूले छात्राले गाएको गीत राखेको भए अँझै कलात्मक हुने थियो । एक्सपेरिमेन्ट गरेर हेर्नुहुन्थ्यो कि 🙂

Completion of Jasta-Pata Distribution

Heartfelt appreciation to you all who contributed to our cause of arranging Jasta-pata for our community. And, my apologies for the delay in reporting.

With your help, we have been successful in distributing 75 bundles of Jasta-pata to residents of Ghatbesi and Mahadevtar of Gorkha.

See this document for the balance sheet and list of donors: PDF

To give you an idea of how the temporary shelters look like, here’s a typical one. Local resources such as wood were used by residents themselves. Jasta-pata serves primarily for the roof and at times temporarily as an alternative when the wall hasn’t been completed.

Ghatbesi-House

The actual reconstruction is yet to start. Hopefully some plans will be paved after the monsoon is over.

This region is the very site of the much-talked-of Budhi-Gandaki hydro-project. If the project does indeed move ahead as planned, this locality will be lake-bed in a few years. People in this region are thus in a greater dilemma post-earthquake : whether to move away now or move away after the project has started.

The earthquake destruction will become a catalyst for this project, although whether it’ll prove to be positive or negative one is still yet to be seen. Furthermore, the political uncertainty is sure to delay the project’s commencement.

Despite this uncertainty, people are slowly coming back to normal lives.

Below you can see some pictures of the distribution.

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Lastly, I would like to thank my brother Hari and all the youths of our community who despite the difficulties during the transportation managed to deliver the items.

SNEHA’s Support for Jageshwor HSS

I personally, and on behalf of our community in Borlang-7 of Gorkha district, thank the Society of Nepalese in Hawaii (SNEHA) for their assistance to rebuild Shree Jageshwor Higher Secondary School in Mahadevtar.

A sum of NRs. 507,134.20 has been received in our school’s account. A letter of confirmation and appreciation from our head-sir Mr. Mukti Nath Dhakal has been sent to SNEHA admin separately.

All school buildings were destroyed by the Great Gorkha Earthquake of the 25th of April. The school management committee has estimated that a total of NRs. 27.5 million (2 crores 75 lakhs) will be necessary to fully reconstruct the infrastructure.

This donation will be precious for our community as we build momentum for the reconstruction.

With SNEHA, I hope this is just a start of a friendship and I hope we can engage in several ways in future to improve the education level of our community, as pointed out by head-sir in his letter of appreciation.

Last, but not the least, a big thank you to my friend Bijaya Khanal, Mukti sir, and my brother Hari for their support.

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Earthquake relief for Ghatbesi & Mahadevtar: Donation list

Here is an update about the amount of fund collected so far. Thank you all for the overwhelming response. Please do spread word around about this cause.

updated on 16th August, 2015

See this document for the balance sheet and the list of donors: PDF

as of 19th May, 2015

Funding through Crowdfunding: Click here to donate

Funding Date Name Amount
2015/5/19 11:01 M Budhathoki $30
2015/5/19 2:40 sangitathapa79 $50
2015/5/17 17:52 Raju B Adhikari $100
2015/5/12 0:29 Aayam Lamichhane $300
2015/5/11 3:31 ghimire_jhabindra $50
2015/5/10 15:41 Anonymous $75
2015/5/10 1:27 YUSHI YAMASHITA $100
2015/5/10 1:26 Anonymous $250
2015/5/8 18:56 Anish MS Shrestha $50
2015/5/7 14:54 sdhakal999 $50
2015/5/7 14:42 Anonymous $50
2015/5/7 6:42 Hem Gurung $30
2015/5/7 5:15 YUTO YAMASHITA $50
2015/5/6 16:19 Achyut Sapkota $100
2015/5/6 15:32 kiran regmi $50
2015/5/6 14:21 N Gurung $50
2015/5/6 7:49 Anonymous $50
2015/5/6 2:51 Dr. Pushpa Raj Joshi $50
2015/5/5 21:35 Topraj Gurung $100
2015/5/5 21:10 M R Adhikari $50
2015/5/5 19:56 Binod Gurung $50
2015/5/5 18:39 izumi soko $50
2015/5/5 15:35 Anupa Sharma $25
2015/5/5 7:49 NORIKO MCMAHON $50
2015/5/5 4:47 shailendra dhakal $50
2015/5/5 2:58 Anonymous $50
2015/5/5 0:39 MR R KHANAL $150
2015/5/4 21:16 Bidur Dhakal $25
2015/5/4 18:21 Kaori Oohori $50
2015/5/4 17:05 G Gurung $50
2015/5/4 16:32 Anonymous $25
2015/5/4 16:09 Abhishek and Kalpana $100
2015/5/4 13:35 KUMAR SIMKHADA $150
Total $2,460

To my account in Japan

Funding Date Name Amount
2015/5/6 Innoseva Ltd 100,000 JPY
2015/5/6 Shambhu Shrestha 5,000 JPY
2015/5/7 Shakya Sandeep 10,000 JPY
2015/5/7 Shrestha Sushil 10,000 JPY
2015/5/9 Mishra Ajay 11,000 JPY
2015/5/10 Neupane Ujjwal 10,000 JPY
2015/5/12 Poudel Bed 3,000 JPY
2015/5/18 Anonymous 50,000 JPY
Total 199,000 JPY

Our appeal is here: http://www.simkhada.com/2015/05/05/relief/

Ghatbesi & Mahadevtar Relief

Click here to donate.
On the 25th of April, 2015, an earthquake of 7.9 in Richter scale hit central Nepal. It was the biggest and the most destructive one the country experienced in 80 years.

Situated at about 30 km from the epicentre, Ghatbesi and Mahadevtar areas of Borlang VDC in Gorkha district were also badly affected. Although we had to bear no human casualties, almost 90% of the houses are now uninhabitable. As the only school is now rubble, there is an urgent need to find a way to protect schoolchildren from the sun and the rain before they can start going back to school again.

This picture below depicts the geographical location of this area with respect to Barpak, the epicentre and Kathmandu, the capital.

tinhouse

About 400 families are currently living under tents – most of which are plastics available locally right now. The presence of the state is not seen even as I write this article some 9 days after the original earthquake.

These families desperately need shelters before the monsoon arrives in July. We need to build many and we need to build them quick. And time is running out.

Currently, we are working to cater tins (Jasta-pata) to these families. These tins will be used as roofs. Apart from this, locally available resources, such as wood, bamboo, and stones, will also be utilized to complete the temporary shelters. This is how a typical tin roof looks like.

tinhouse

Please help us by donating. Click here to donate. If you do not have a credit/debit card and/or can not donate online, inform me via email and we will arrange some way.

To ensure transparency, donors will be listed in this very blog. If you wish to remain anonymous, you may do so by informing us.

Moreover, the overall expenditure will also be made public in this page. Also we will bear our own administrative cost to make sure 100% of the money collected will be used for relief purposes.

We thank you for your help.

Contact:

  • Kumar Simkhada; kumarsimkhada @ gmail.com; Tel: +44-(0)7733-740-998
  • Rishi Khanal; Tel: +44-(0)7867-413-004
  • Akdev Aryal; sadle @ ntc.net.np; Tel: +977-98510-21-669
  • Sujan Dhakal; abiralsujan @ gmail.com; Tel: +49-1767-273-8969

Update (May 10, 2015)

We now have an update about the committee that will oversee the distribution of the goods. The following locals have been distributing relief aid materials so far, including those received from other groups and organizations. We will be handing over the galvanized-tins to this committee who will take into account the condition of each family in the area and ensure that they are fairly distributed.

  • Kishor Prasad Dhakal (social worker)
  • Purna Prasad Dhakal (social worker)
  • Yadu Nath Sapkota (teacher at the local school)
  • Balaram Dhakal (social worker)
  • Balaram Bhatta (teacher at the local school)

Update (May 19, 2015)

Click here for the latest list of donors.

Some pictures of the aftermath of the earthquake.

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Earthquake Aftermath

Pictures by: Jaya Ram Dhakal

The aftermath of the Great Gorkha Earthquake in Ghatbesi of Borlang VDC, Gorkha, Nepal. Although no human casualties were reported, luckily, the damage it has done is sure to endure in our lives for a long time.

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