SHANTI RELIEF CONTINUES
I've been up since 6:00 and communicating with Mr. Kinley, the Principal of one of our schools. He is a wonderful human being. As of this morning, staff and our older, sponsored kids from Pegasus hostel (where our kids go to school and live) are organizing food packets that will each feed 4-5 people for 6-8 days. The group will drive out to two villages in Sindhupalchowk which is one of the hardest hit areas and deliver and distribute the food to the 65 families of two villages there which have gotten no relief at all. Shanti is sending the money today to fund this. This is grassroots relief.
They will also assess what else is needed, once they visit. These villagers may need shelters. They may need cooking pots and pans, water purification, etc. We will continue to help when and where it's needed.
We are still trying to gather info about families of kids who live in more remote areas. If they have been devastated and need our support to be safe and get back on their feet we will help.
We are also trying to source water purification tablets to distribute to families and our older kids in Kathmandu where the water sources are now considered contaminated. I've been messaging on Facebook with one of our graduates who wants to help. She is a nurse and is going to get the tablets for us and either distribute for us or give them to Tejendra who can distribute.
Needs are going to continue to be revealed. The first responders are going to leave at some point but the needs are going to continue for a long time. We will help when and where we can. We have a number of trusted colleagues on the ground who can help us assess what is needed.
That's the update as of this morning. The kids aren't in school right now. All are closed. Many kids are with family or friends of family waiting it out. Some are in the hostel at Pegasus. We do have repairs to both schools that we work with that need to be taken care of. The repairs to the girls’ hostel at Pegasus will be first order of repair. The girls are sleeping in a storage room right now. But all are safe, thank goodness.
My assistant Tejendra has started home visits to families in the Kathmandu valley to see what their condition may be. So far the few he has visited are ok. He has started distributing water purification. He will continue these visits to assess if our families are going to be ok now and in the near future as the monsoon starts.
That's all I can think of for now. I'm totally focused on this and am in touch with friends and colleagues in Nepal every day all day. It is indeed chaotic and no one has a complete over view. Inevitably I think huge money is going to be wasted by many NGOs who do not know Nepal intimately. But I'm not going to worry about that. I will just keep on trying to do what I can with what I have in my small corner. I think it's all anyone can do. I know many monasteries and monks who are working on the ground there. They are being very effective because they know the ropes. I hope that same can be said or us. Plus we know some of those monks! Haha..
Anyway, there it is. If you feel moved to donate we will do our utmost to get that aid to those in need now and for quite a while to come. This is going to be a long term relief project.