Help Silwal Family
Donation protected
My name is Manju KC Courtney and I moved to the United States nine years ago from Nepal. My family, which includes my elderly parents, three of my siblings, my sister-in-law, aunt and two young nephews in grade school, all remain in Nepal. They live within a single house in Sunthan, a small village approximately 20 miles east of Kathmandu. During my recent visit to Nepal in April, with my husband and son, we witnessed and experienced the devastating effects of a major earthquake (7.8) of significant strength and duration. Plumes of dust uplifted into the sky from homes and buildings collapsing during the intense shaking of the earthquake. The damage was widespread throughout the area and also within my village and in particular my family’s home. This is the house that my family had worked so hard to build when I was young that was now significantly damaged and deemed unsafe to live in. As with many other villagers, my family quickly had to turn to the basic need of building a temporary shelter constructed from hay for bedding, cornstalk walls and a tarp roof supported by bamboo.
My family was devasted by the damage of the earthquake yet we all did what we could to save materials from the home and then to attempt to shore the walls from further damage. However, the second earthquake in May (7.3) was closer to the village and the resulted in further significant damage. Every day I feel grateful that my family and I survived the devastation of the earthquake physically unharmed. However, their wellbeing has been shattered and their future remains uncertain. To date no aid, which is now beginning to leave Nepal, has made it to Sunthan. Nor has any government review of the area, or discussions for assistance to the local community occurred. Nor is it anticipated to ever happen.
My family continues to share the meager and relatively unsafe outdoor shelter sleeping on the ground as the monsoon season approaches. All nine family members sleep together in the makeshift shelter without heat, water, exposed to elements and the nighttime threat of looters and even wild animals. On our second night in the shelter we saw several tigers nearby and feared for not only our own safety but that of our livestock. The monsoon will now bring daily rains that can be expected to last for the next several months. I am, and continue to be, very worried for their safety and their health.
My family owns a milking cow and a buffalo from which they sold the milk to the villagers to supplement their income. However, since the earthquake they were are not able to continue. Schools remain closed in the village and at present the entire family is surviving on my father’s small pension from the army.
Therefore, I am starting a fundraising campaign in the hopes of assisting my family with their immediate needs, food, better and a safer temporary shelter for themselves and their livestock. The hope is to make plans to take down the remaining structure of the home and start building anew once the monsoon season has passed.
No assistance has been received nor is anticipated from the government of Nepal to any outlying areas such as Sunthan. The people of Sunthan are in need of help and in particular my family, whose home received significant non-repairable damage, is in desperate immediate need of help. Therefore, I am reaching out to you for your good will. Any donation will be very much appreciated. Please help rebuild Nepal one family at a time!
My family was devasted by the damage of the earthquake yet we all did what we could to save materials from the home and then to attempt to shore the walls from further damage. However, the second earthquake in May (7.3) was closer to the village and the resulted in further significant damage. Every day I feel grateful that my family and I survived the devastation of the earthquake physically unharmed. However, their wellbeing has been shattered and their future remains uncertain. To date no aid, which is now beginning to leave Nepal, has made it to Sunthan. Nor has any government review of the area, or discussions for assistance to the local community occurred. Nor is it anticipated to ever happen.
My family continues to share the meager and relatively unsafe outdoor shelter sleeping on the ground as the monsoon season approaches. All nine family members sleep together in the makeshift shelter without heat, water, exposed to elements and the nighttime threat of looters and even wild animals. On our second night in the shelter we saw several tigers nearby and feared for not only our own safety but that of our livestock. The monsoon will now bring daily rains that can be expected to last for the next several months. I am, and continue to be, very worried for their safety and their health.
My family owns a milking cow and a buffalo from which they sold the milk to the villagers to supplement their income. However, since the earthquake they were are not able to continue. Schools remain closed in the village and at present the entire family is surviving on my father’s small pension from the army.
Therefore, I am starting a fundraising campaign in the hopes of assisting my family with their immediate needs, food, better and a safer temporary shelter for themselves and their livestock. The hope is to make plans to take down the remaining structure of the home and start building anew once the monsoon season has passed.
No assistance has been received nor is anticipated from the government of Nepal to any outlying areas such as Sunthan. The people of Sunthan are in need of help and in particular my family, whose home received significant non-repairable damage, is in desperate immediate need of help. Therefore, I am reaching out to you for your good will. Any donation will be very much appreciated. Please help rebuild Nepal one family at a time!
Organizer
Manju KC Courtney
Organizer
Amesbury, MA