District Report on the Nepal Earthquake

On April 25^th, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake erupted in Nepal. It was caused by a sudden thrust along a major fault line where the Indian Plate, carrying India, is diving underneath the Eurasian Plate, carrying much of Europe and Asia. The Nepal capital, Kathmandu, reportedly shifted 10 feet to the south in 30 seconds. Along with many aftershocks, a 7.3 magnitude quake hit the same fault line on May 12^th. The human and property devastation is extensive: As of May 5^th, over 8,000 deaths, over 23,000 seriously injured, 2.8 million homeless including 1.7 million children; in the rural areas, 200,000 homes completely collapsed, with an equal number seriously damaged; plus extensive loss of livestock and crops throughout the area. A caste system creates wide social and economic gaps throughout many aspects of Nepal’s society, and poor indigenous populations have been some of the most affected by this destructive act of nature.

At our District Conference on May 2^nd, Rotarians rose to the challenge to help Nepal. Bill Harkey, Rotary Club of Carlisle, offered to match the first $5,000.00 raised by Rotarians. This challenge was met within a few hours. Over the next week, our District raised over $38,000.00. District leadership moved quickly to establish contact with Nepal. DG John Judson, DGE John Kramb, DGN Kevin Cogen, District Disaster Response Chairs Peg Sennett and Rick Coplen, along with Rotarians Bill Harkey (Carlisle) and Elliott Weinstein (York) conducted a conference call with D3292 in Nepal, and established communications with DG Rabindra Piya and DGE Keshav Kunwar. Rotarian Elliott Weinstein’s son, Josh, and daughter-in-law, Sarah, currently live in Kathmandu; they reached out to D3292 offering their assistance as liaisons between our two districts and are offering their knowledge in the engineering and the non-profit disaster relief fields.

Using GI sheeting as a roof.	Villagers
Devestation from the earthquake	Method used to construct an interior wall.

We asked D3292 to use our initial donation for immediate response needs such as Shelter Box kits, food, water purification supplies, blankets, and medical supplies. Additionally, our funds, along with donations from other organizations, have been used to purchase $5,000 of corrugated-metal sheets for temporary roofing material to support 73 households and a destroyed community school in the villages of northern Rasuwa District, near the Nepal-Tibet border. After the monsoon season ends in September, the sheets will be reused in the building of permanent structures. Also, a donation through the Beit Chabad of Nepal brought over 200 multi-family disaster relief shelters from Shelter-Systems, each costing around $450, to Kathmandu. Fifty-nine of these multi-family tents, capable of housing 750 people, were distributed to the Everest region in the Solukhumbu District. D7390’s donation helped to cover the $2,600.00 flight and other transportation costs to transfer the tents to Solokhumbu.

A long-term goal of D3292 will be the construction of 1,000 low-cost housing units at a US cost of $3,000 per house and a total project cost of $3 million. D7390 will give additional evaluation to a future Global Grant for long-term recovery and restoration.

As with all good works, others have joined our efforts to help Nepal. Dr. Sonam Ruit, Martin Foot and Ankle in York, is from Nepal. His personal fund raising efforts have resulted in $12,000.00 that he has taken with him to Nepal to assist in medical relief activities. Through Rotarian Elliott Weinstein’s input, Dr. Ruit is anxious to meet with D3292 and D7390 to learn how he can become a Rotarian and be an essential link with Nepal. Rotary has also been working with National Indigenous Women’s Forum (NIWF) in Katmandu who has assisted D3292 in identifying affected regions with vulnerable populations, identifying suppliers for needed items and assisting in the distribution of the corrugated roofing.

Featured is a photo from the Kumal Village in Tanahude.