On April 25, 2015 a major 7.8 earthquake hits Nepal. The Ghurka and Sherpa ethnic groups are hardest hit. The government cannot help anyone outside of the urban areas.
As you may know, Ingrid and I have been wandering around the Himalaya for the past decade, sleeping in tents or staying with local villagers.
Last year we hiked into the remote Kanchenjunga region with Mr. Kumar Kharki, literally trusting him with our lives.
Sensing an opportunity to help the locals, Kumar organized a shipment of rice and medical supplies to be ferried-in on the helicopter. After that and before we took-off Kumar got our permission to take a local guy with a sick kid to the hospital in Kathmandu.
Kumar Kharki is our man in Nepal. He operates an NGO,Community Building for Sustainable Development, that installs cooking stoves, builds schools and medical clinics. We’ve made several donations.
Cooking smoke is a major health problem in the world’s poorest regions. Burning wood or dung inside a one-room house without a chimney is the norm. CBSD buys a $250 cast iron stove and chimney from India and installs it inside the villager’s home. This is a life-lengthening event for these people.
Nele is a village in the Solukhumbu District in the Sagarmatha Zone of north-eastern Nepal. Sherpa culture and the Tengboche Monastery are unique to this district. UNESCO has listed Sagarmatha as a World Heritage site.
Before the earthquake we committed $22,000 to build a school in the village of Nele in the Everest region, a 3-day walk from the road. We vowed to return to Nepal and help with its construction.
Our man in Nepal, Kumar Kharki, reports today 465 households in Nele, 100+ completely destroyed in the earthquake. Villagers are in desperate need of outside help. Rebuilding a home will cost $1500.
The Nepali people are the most honest, hard working, self sufficient, and soulful people we’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. They are generous to a fault, humble and incredibly tough, both physically and mentally.
Without a doubt they will survive and rebuild their lives after the earthquake. But they need us to prime the pump because the government can’t/won’t help.
Our man in Nepal is completely trustworthy. We’ve trusted him with our lives and we’ve watched him in action. He’s self-less and competent. We’ve vetted him and his NGO. He buys the supplies, installs them, and sends us pictures of the finished work.
Please give…any amount will make a big difference. Namaste.