Help rebuild a village in Nepal
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On 25 April 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, about 75 km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu. Because the earthquake struck at noon on a Saturday, most people were outside of their homes; schools, many businesses and most government offices were closed; and so the death toll was much lower than it might have been.
Even so, the earthquake left as many as 500,000 families homeless. Thousands of villages are believed to have been largely destroyed. The village of Kot Danda (Armory Hill) is one of them. Home to about 100 families, Kot Danda sits on a ridge on a high hill on the southern edge of the Kathmandu Valley. A long steep and narrow road connects it to the bigger towns and urban sprawl of Kathmandu, but it is far from the attention of the Nepali government and the international aid community. On April 25, the earthquake destroyed about 80 percent of the houses (see pictures). At the moment, several hundred people are living under makeshift tarps.
Time is critical. The villagers need to build temporary shelters to protect themselves from the monsoon rains that will begin in a few weeks. They need tarps and corrugated iron sheets. As soon as possible, they also need to start building better shelters to take them through the frigid Himalayan winter, which will begin in early November.
I am an American writer who has lived in Nepal for the past two years. My aim is to raise money for the people of Kot Danda who have lost their homes, first, to provide them with tarps and corrugated iron sheeting and, then, with the guidance of a village committee that will identify and agree the most urgent needs, to help homeless villagers build more permanent structures. I will disburse the funds, keep the books, supervise the construction and update the donors regularly. I am always reachable on my email: [adresse e-mail supprimée].
If we manage to raise more money that the village needs, the remaining funds will go to similar activities to the ancient Newar village of Khokana, just down the road from where I live. Much of that historic town is now destroyed, and many of its old mud-brick and mud-stone houses have collapsed or are too weak to be inhabitable.
The people of Kot Danda are extremely grateful for your donation. Nepal needs your help.
A brief history: Kot Danda is the village of our family friend, Keshav Thapa Magar, and his extended family. Most of the families have lived here since the 1750s. Kot Danda means "Armory Hill", and the settlement was originally used, in the mid- and late-1700s, to store artillery after the army of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the King of Gorkha, invaded the Kathmandu Valley and united Nepal under his leadership. Keshav's ancestors were all Magar, an ethnic group that served as soldiers for the Gorkha kings in the 1700s, and they were given land on the hilltops surrounding the Kathmandu Valley as a reward for their service and also to ensure that other invaders could not gain control of the hills or the trade routes entering the valley.
Even so, the earthquake left as many as 500,000 families homeless. Thousands of villages are believed to have been largely destroyed. The village of Kot Danda (Armory Hill) is one of them. Home to about 100 families, Kot Danda sits on a ridge on a high hill on the southern edge of the Kathmandu Valley. A long steep and narrow road connects it to the bigger towns and urban sprawl of Kathmandu, but it is far from the attention of the Nepali government and the international aid community. On April 25, the earthquake destroyed about 80 percent of the houses (see pictures). At the moment, several hundred people are living under makeshift tarps.
Time is critical. The villagers need to build temporary shelters to protect themselves from the monsoon rains that will begin in a few weeks. They need tarps and corrugated iron sheets. As soon as possible, they also need to start building better shelters to take them through the frigid Himalayan winter, which will begin in early November.
I am an American writer who has lived in Nepal for the past two years. My aim is to raise money for the people of Kot Danda who have lost their homes, first, to provide them with tarps and corrugated iron sheeting and, then, with the guidance of a village committee that will identify and agree the most urgent needs, to help homeless villagers build more permanent structures. I will disburse the funds, keep the books, supervise the construction and update the donors regularly. I am always reachable on my email: [adresse e-mail supprimée].
If we manage to raise more money that the village needs, the remaining funds will go to similar activities to the ancient Newar village of Khokana, just down the road from where I live. Much of that historic town is now destroyed, and many of its old mud-brick and mud-stone houses have collapsed or are too weak to be inhabitable.
The people of Kot Danda are extremely grateful for your donation. Nepal needs your help.
A brief history: Kot Danda is the village of our family friend, Keshav Thapa Magar, and his extended family. Most of the families have lived here since the 1750s. Kot Danda means "Armory Hill", and the settlement was originally used, in the mid- and late-1700s, to store artillery after the army of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the King of Gorkha, invaded the Kathmandu Valley and united Nepal under his leadership. Keshav's ancestors were all Magar, an ethnic group that served as soldiers for the Gorkha kings in the 1700s, and they were given land on the hilltops surrounding the Kathmandu Valley as a reward for their service and also to ensure that other invaders could not gain control of the hills or the trade routes entering the valley.
Organisateur
Donatella Lorch
Organisateur
Landover, MD
