My friends for my community

When the destructive earthquake rocked Nepal on April 25, thousands of aftershocks continued to terrorise people for weeks which not only skyrocketed the death toll but also further damaged the habitats of hundreds of thousands of people. Aid from local and international communities started pouring as soon as the news spread worldwide but the challenging weather and the lack of disaster management and coordination from Nepal’s government made the relief supply distribution campaigns very complicated and for weeks affected people even close to the capital Kathmandu had to survive without foods.

Nayagaun, a small village roughly 45 Km South East of Kathmandu was also severely hit by the quake making none of the house habitable.  There is a small ‘Tamang Community’ spread in ‘Torikhoriya’ and ‘Gurdum Danda’ and this ethnic minority group has been suffering from poverty for decades as they don’t have their own legally registered land or property. They have a very limited farm and their production is not adequate enough to feed their families for half a year which is why they have to rely on labour work for wages. Nearly 40 families have never received any attention from dozens of government over the decades and their situation has been worse after the quake. Many stone mines are not currently in operation and they have no other source of income rather than selling a few liters of milk every day.

Some individual groups went there and helped them with some urgent relief materials right after the quake but how could bigger families survive with some packets of noodles and biscuit for weeks? Born and grown up in the same village, it made me very emotional to know the difficult situation of these people and I decided to raise some funds to help them.

Many of my friends here in New Zealand had already donated through various charity organisations but some of my mates still wanted to help my villagers and their support has made a huge difference to them.

My brother Uddhav Acharya distributed 30 kg. of rice, salt and some vegetables to 40 families last Monday which has brought back smiles in their faces.

“We thank the generous donors from the bottom of our hearts for distributing food supplies right before the monsoon”, said Indra Bahadur Tamang, adding that they now have enough food to feed their families at least for one and half month.

On the phone conversation, Bhana Bahadur Tamang said, “Santosh brother, I would like to thank you and your friends who have remembered us in a difficult time”.

We made a small attempt and for them it brought enormous joy. They are still worried how they are going to rebuild their houses as the government hasn’t reached to the community yet with the promised support for the temporary shelter. Since they don't have ownership of the land they are using and proper house to live in, they feel  like the state has treated them as refugee in their own country which is really heartbreaking.

I will strongly keep an eye on how the government will address their needs in the near future but we have to be there for them with what we can till they overcome the monsoon. They are extremely hard working people and they will find some ways to help each other and survive but I will be still keen in figuring out how we can support them for long term.

Their kids are limited to primary education as higher education is beyond their affordability. Secondary level schools are hours away from the village and they choose not to send them that far as their children could look after the house when they are busy in farms and stone mines during the day. This has to change and apart from awareness, they also need enough financial support for their children education.

I deeply thank to my lovely friends Kathleen, Paula, Hiroshi, Siva, Barbara and Lily for their valuable contribution and warm support in helping these wonderful people of my village.

Together we can make a difference……..!!!