US Mountaineers Launch “Monsoons and Mudslides” Campaign for Rural Nepal Quake Relief
Hood River, OR (PRWEB) June 02, 2015 -- Two Hood River friends of Kumari, the rural Nepalese region heavily damaged in the recent series of earthquakes, are working with Mountain Leadership Institute to help 370 at-risk families with simple, sturdy shelters.
The campaign to build shelters is intended to protect families vulnerable to more distress during the coming season of “Monsoons and Mudslides,” according to Hood River residents Jim Haun and Peter Marbach.
Monsoons sweep Nepal each summer with high winds and torrential rains. For the thousands of rural Nepalis living under temporary tarps, the imminent threat of mudslides poses a risk of more casualties than resulted from the earthquake itself.
“Many Nepalis are subsistence farmers who depend on small but vital infusions of income working as porters during the trekking season, which is non-existent this year,” Haun says. “They’ve lost their homes, their income, and are living under tarps with the monsoons and mudslides fast approaching.”
Oregon-based Mountain Leadership Institute estimates 370 Kumari families are in need of more adequate shelter. Kumari, with a population of 55,000, is near the epicenter of the recent quakes.
“The most affordable and practical solution right now is to provide sheets of tin to be used to build small but sturdy homes” urges Jagat Lama, a Kumari resident leading aid efforts. “Tin is available in Kathmandu, and $280 will purchase enough for a home for an entire family.”
In a May 26 e-mail, Lama wrote: “We couldn't sleep last (night) because of heavy rain, wind storm and thunder in Kathmandu. Whole night was awake and hard life today. It has continue since last 3/4 days and all Tarps gone and temporary shelters all destroyed around in village and city. Life becoming more disaster and hard to safe.”
“Your donation will literally provide a house for a frightened family,” says Marbach, a Hood River photographer who has visited Kumari.
Because the monsoons arrive on or around June 1st, there is an urgent need to act soon.
Because of the attention and amount of need in Kathmandu, large-scale relief is unlikely to ever reach villages like Kumari. The Mountain Leadership Institute is a US non-profit organization (tax deductible) with a long history of befriending and working with the people of Kumari. For more information on how you can help, please visit the Monsoons and Mudslides website at http://www.KumariNepal.org.
Jim Haun, Mountain Leadership Institute, http://www.KumariNepal.org, +1 541-490-0085, [email protected]
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