Since the earthquake of April 25th, 2015, it has been all hands on deck, for Nepali-run organization, Sarvodaya Sewashram.
The 7.8M earthquake hit their home district of Lamjung, and neighboring districts quite hard and they have drawn upon their full resources to focus on immediate earthquake recovery needs. They have traveled to the remote villages of Bharatey, Bichaur and Barpak, and are providing basic first aid and medicine, tents, food, and toilets to help the surviving villagers, most of whom have lost their homes.
Their mission includes health initiatives based on nature-based healthful living and development that draws on the traditional farming culture of Nepal's Middle Hills. Their website can be found here. Please note that it has not been updated to reflect the relief effort as the website manager was among the injured.
Funds will be used to buy and transport more supplies as needed. Information in the field right now is limited due to communications and electricity being cut off. All funds collected at the present moment will be sent by Western Union or wire transfer as soon as services in the area are re-opened, hopefully within the next week or so.
Update: As of 4/30, $1000 was already transferred and used to buy supplies in India to be brought to Nepal. See the blog post below for info about the supplies purchased.
As time goes on, updates will be provided on aid given and new needs that arise as the situation unfolds.
Who am I and why Sarvodaya Sewashram?
I first went to Nepal at 19, as a college student. You couldn't find someplace more different than Wisconsin, where I grew up. Yet, I met many people who welcomed me to their families and their homes, calling me sister, daughter, auntie. After spending a year there, living entirely with Nepalis, I loved it so much that I applied for and received a Fulbright scholarship to spend another year there.
Two places are particularly dear to me. Patan, in the Kathmandu Valley, where I did my main project of making sculpture, and Duradanda, a village in the Lamjung district. The connection to my Nepali family in Lamjung was by chance. As a student on the UW-Madison College Year in Nepal program, we were sent to experience the fall festival in Durandanda, and I had such a bond with them that I continued to visit regularly during the time I lived there, despite the 7 hour local bus ride, followed by a three hour walk.
I am relieved to find that everyone in both my Patan and Durandanda families are uninjured, and though they are sleeping outside and facing unpleasant conditions, they will be ok.
Celebrating a Nepali festival with my adopted family in Lamjung, Nepal in the 90's
After a couple of days of shock I began to get a clear idea of how I need to honor my relationship with this country and the people. While the earthquake hit both Patan and Lamjung, it is the countryside that will receive much less attention. It is also a place that has much less tourism. That is why I decided to be an ambassador for them and their needs.
I reached out to Bibek Pandit, the nephew of my adopted family for ideas, and he has previously volunteered for Sarvodaya Sewashram, and is on his way there to help them with earthquake relief. He will be providing updates from the field as time goes on and assured me that any donations received will be stretched as far as possible. The resourcefulness of village Nepalis to reuse and recycle and is fairly astounding.
Given that the founder of this organization is a friend of my adopted family and they are very familiar with his work, I decided to put my fundraising efforts towards their grassroots efforts. When a disaster comes, aid is needed for all sizes of groups, but this is a group with deep roots in the region, it is their home, they will rebuild over the very long term.
If you share this vision, I invite you to contribute in any amount. If you have made any donation to any organization for Nepal earthquake relief, I thank you with all my heart.
In gratitude,
Natasha Wozniak
