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I felt so helpless. I was just waiting to hear their voices.
Living virtually on the opposite side of the world, Dinesh Adhikary, President of the UBCO Nepalese Scholars Association and Biology PhD student, was wide awake here in Kelowna on Friday, April 24th as he awaited news from family and friends in Nepal.
After an agonizing hour, Adhikary finally managed to reach his immediate family in Nepal. Luckily, his family survived the devastating earthquake, but his entire village was destroyed.
Thousands are homeless and living in makeshift tents near Kathmandu. Photo credit: Glyn Riley with CARE Australia via Facebook.
Located approximately 200 kilometres outside of Kathmandu, Adhikary said most, if not all, of the homes in his village were completely reduced to rubble. Temples and old heritage sites were nearly demolished and Adhikary has no idea how many people have perished from his village.
Despite the devastation, Adhikary was happy to relay that all families of his colleagues and associates from the UBCO Nepalese Scholars are okay.
Family and friends in Nepal are currently living in tents as they wait for much needed assistance and medical attention, said Adhikary, and for the few residences that managed to survive the earthquake, families are waiting for the green light to return to their homes.
“Right now we need prayers and thoughts for Nepal and Nepalese families,” added Adhikary.
Schools in Nepal are still closed and the cleaning and rebuilding of infrastructure is expected to take some time.
Photo credit: CARE Australia and Nepal Earthquake Support Facebook.
A candlelight vigil will be held in Kelowna on Sunday, May 3rd for Nepal’s earthquake victims. Adhikary and everyone from UBCO’s Nepalese Scholars Association is inviting Kelowna families to come out to Stuart Park, 1430 Water Street, at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday to share a moment of silence for those affected by the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake.
Nepalese Scholars Association raising funds for Nepal. Photo credit: Facebook.
In addition to the vigil, Adhikary and his colleagues have started a Nepal earthquake relief fund. Their target goal is $10,000 in a month and they’ve already kicked off their fundraising campaign at the UBC Okanagan campus. Any little bit of support is greatly appreciated, said Adhikary, and if you’d like to donate, visit the Facebook page.
Other agencies collecting funds include PayPal and the Canadian Red Cross.
As of Friday, the death toll has more than surpassed 6,000, thousands are still unaccounted for or injured, and millions are rendered homeless following the devastating earthquake that rocked Nepal on Saturday, April 25th.
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