Last summer we were in the fortunate position to visit the beautiful country of Nepal. As you probably know, Nepal is located in the Himalayas north of India and south of China/Tibet. Eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains are in Nepal, including the world famous Mount Everest or Sagarmāthā (8848m). We visited the Upper Mustang region, known for its traditional Tibetan culture. Nepal is a beautiful country, but also a country in development with a low income economy.
On Saturday April 25 2015 a 7.8 Richter earthquake occurred, with its epicenter located about 150 north-east of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. This is the most powerful earthquake to strike to Nepal since 1934.
People’s houses collapsed, ancient monuments are lost. Some say that the people of Nepal “lost its soul”. People are staying in the streets in tents, because they lost their houses or are just afraid for another earthquake. The country is a chaos; because of the poor condition- or the lack of roads it’s difficult or even impossible to reach villages and the more remote areas. Problems are getting bigger by the day, there’s a lack of tents, food and drinking water.
Maybe you want to help the people of Nepal. I would suggest to first read this article on the website of The Guardian: “Don’t rush to Nepal to help. Read this first“. Another article is on globalpost.com: “Lessons from Haiti, the tsunami and beyond: To help Nepal quake victims, send money, not stuff“.
If you’re considering to do something for the people of Nepal, you can support one of charity organizations or NGOs that are already there. These organizations are providing medical assistance and essential aid. I have some suggestions for you:
- For my international friends read this post at cnn.com for a list of organizations: “How to help victims of the Nepal earthquake“;
- For my Dutch readers: Giro555 Nederland helpt Nepal is one of the options for you;
- A smaller initiative which is related to the travel organization we were traveling with is Stichting Asian Heritage Nepal (Dutch) and/or Asian Heritage Foundation Nepal (Nepali/International);
- Another small initiative by two Dutch guys is One to Watch Impact Investments Entrepreneurs, read more here (Dutch).
- Or feel free to choose any other initiative that you think is doing great work in Nepal.
Thanks for your help!
