Namaste Nepal

It is almost 3 months to the day since the 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal killing more than 9000 people, injuring 22000 and leaving 2.8 million displaced. There have been 350 aftershocks since then, 16 within the first 3 hours and the latest one at 10.14pm last night. The room shook more violently than in any of the aftershocks I've experienced and there was a sound like a deep rumble. Or maybe it was completely silent and the noise came from inside my head, I can't remember. The roads were empty of traffic and quiet except for the sudden barking of stray dogs and within 7 seconds it was over. Some of us had grabbed our passports and emergency kit bags, some had gone outside looking for the relative safety of open space. For me it was a reminder that I am in Nepal and less than three months ago an earthquake with 63000 times more energy than the one I felt last night wiped out whole villages, entire families.

Seven weeks ago I arrived in Kathmandu to be part of Save the Children's Emergency Response Team. Already 5 weeks after the first earthquake the Health team was well established and had been running mobile health clinics in remote districts where health facilities had been destroyed. The Water and Sanitation team had installed toilets and clean water systems and the Education team had set up Temporary Learning Centres (TLC's) to act as classrooms in damaged schools. The Food and Secure Livelihoods team were helping to distribute rice, grains and oil and the Child Safeguarding Team were working to reduce the numbers of children trafficked, a sad reality in times of extreme poverty and desperation.  So I joined a proactive, passionate, multinational team to focus on rebuilding the health systems and facilities in 33 village district councils of Nepal.

Kathmandu views

In parts of Kathmandu it is hard to see signs of the earthquake. The infrastructure in the capital city was undoubtedly better than that in the remote villages. Road works and piles of bricks are tell-tale signs of earlier damage and the rebuilding efforts now in progress, as are the tent camps that still dot the city. But it is outside of Kathmandu Valley where the real extent of the destruction can be seen. Some of the remote areas bordering China remain completely cut off from land access and now that the monsoon season has started it is only getting harder to travel by roads that are blocked by landslides. The race is on to get the corrugated iron sheets for shelter, medical supplies for health posts and materials for temporary structures to where they need to be before the harsh winter sets in.

Yet Nepal remains a stunningly beautiful country. The compassionate, karmic religions of Hinduism and Buddhism make up 90% of the nation and interweave in a religious harmony that create a people who are incredibly kind, welcoming and inherently peaceful. The most important Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva, Pashupatinath, is 5 minutes from our office and attracts many elderly followers of Hinduism each year. They arrive to find shelter for the last weeks of their lives, to meet death, be cremated on the banks of the river and travel their last journey with the waters of the sacred river Bagmati, which later meets the holy river Ganges. It is believed that those who die in Pashupatinath Temple are reborn as a human, regardless of any misconduct that could worsen their karma. On my birthday we walked to the office through the grounds of the temple and saw the preparation of a body for one of the many funeral pyres. Whilst obviously a sad experience, it was also moving as we witnessed the cycle of birth and death that is intrinsic of Nepal and its people.

Funeral pyres on the banks of the Bagmati river

Sādhus at Pashupatinath temple