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.

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.

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.

[nggallery id=7]