Over 1 Year Later

A year on from the earth quake people are still struggling to return to normal lives in Nepal. Many whose homes were destroyed are still living in tents and under tarps. They have endured both the monsoon season and then a cold winter living under little more that plastic sheeting.

I am preparing to return to the Himalayas. I will not be going to Sikkim. I will be going to Nepal. This time I will not be searching for a valley of flowers. I will be basing myself in Kathmandu and volunteering 3 months of my time to work for charity focused on improving housing and clean water supplies damaged in the 2015 earthquake and aftermath in the Gorkha areas of Nepal.  

Prior to my departure I am attempting to raise £2350. This money will go directly to the charity. It is not to fund my trip over there. 

In order to raise this money I am going to live in a tent for 3 months prior to my departure.  I will have no electricity or water facilities in my accommodation. 

I won’t go so far as to live under a tarp for three months. I done it for a night or two but I am not so brave as to commit myself to this for three months. I will take a relatively cowardice approach. Whilst the UK is not particularly known for its balmy summers I will not have to endure freezing temperatures or monsoon conditions. I will still be trying to maintain my professional job during this period.  I will have real access to any supplies, medical treatment and comforts should I require are at my doorstep. There is no real barrier to me returning to normal life. Unlike those in Nepal the choice is mine to make on a voluntary basis.  Compared to what those are suffering in Nepal my experience will be nothing. 

The Earthquake

On 25 April 2015 my friend and I were in Sikkim - small state in northwest India, bordered by Bhutan, Tibet and Nepal and forms part of the Himalayas. We travelling in a 4 wheel drive on a mountain pass. There was permanent machinery on the side of the road. It was left there to clear the road from the frequent landslides and avalanches that constantly blocked the road – and frequently responsible for numerous casualties. But we were calm and relaxed, enjoying the scenery. It had been a spontaneous decision to travel to Sikkim. We had tossed up whether to go to Nepal, Darjeling but when we learned that the valley of flowers ought to be in bloom we settled on Sikkim. And then everyone’s phones started to ring. The drivers phone went off first - his companions not long after that. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but the tone in their voice was altered.

There had been a huge earthquake in Nepal. The calls were to confirm that we were all ok. At this point in time we remained oblivious to the extent of the devastation or the magnitude of the quake.

We of course were fine. We hadn’t even felt the quake. My friend’s family back in Delhi had noticed it more than us. There was some minor damage to a few buildings back in the township of Lachung, where we had departed from that morning, and we heard there had been a little damage in Gangtok where we were heading. Had we chosen to go to Nepal our experience would have bee very different.

We later found out that the earthquake killed close to 9000 people in Nepal alone and injured more than 21,000, with nearly 3.5 million people were left homeless.