Rising From The Ashes - 5 Truths I've Learnt In Nepal

The response to the earthquake in April 2015 of aid, donations and support to Nepal following was truly a global effort and amazing to see. People truly wanted to help in any way that they could. Yet just over 2 months on, the situation is actually no better. Nepal is not in the news, the aid relief is not getting to the right people, it's monsoon season and the majority are still without homes.

Here is a 2 minute video showing the real-situation.

Having spent 6 days escaping out of the mountains following the earthquake as I trekked up to Base Camp, I was very keen to return and see how I can help though only if I could really make an impact. I felt guilty for surviving the earthquake and leaving the country, when so many did not make it or remain and are suffering. I found Effect International and Nepal Rises, two NGOs on the ground who were committed to truly making an impact. 

Myself and 20 other employees from Google and Salesforce partnered up with Effect & Nepal Rises to spend the last week in Kathmandu, getting involved in a variety of aid-relief projects. This coincided with the Salesforce Global Volunteer week - Salesforce celebrated hitting 1 million total volunteer hours (that’s 114 years of nonstop volunteering?—?365 days a year, 24/7) giving away $1M in grants to organisations around the world. 

Here are 5 things that I learnt during my week back in Nepal...

1) So Much Devastation, So Many Still Homeless

It was strange for me revisiting some of the more well-known tourist sights 2 months later. Comparing the destruction to the amazing structures when I was last there (2 days before the earthquake). 

There is a lot of focus/support going on within Kathmandu (they need a lot more, don't be mistaken). We had planned to go further afield to a rural village. These villages are easily forgotten about, yet were the hardest hit by the earthquake. We went to a rural village about 1.5 hours outside of Kathmandu, working there for a few days. It had been completely wiped out by the earthquake. There had been hardly any work done to rebuild it, which raised the question of how they would rebuild.

They had no insurance, no money, no materials. Although there were the skills to rebuild, they were not able-bodied. The younger men are leaving the country to find work (e.g. in Qatar for the World Cup construction).

We helped to rebuild 3 homes working with 3 skilled British workers volunteering with 'All Hands'. Another NGO. We partnered with some of the villagers to ensure they were involved with the process, and not just building something that they would not like/live-in. 

The weather went from scorching hot to heavy monsoon rain, but the team kept on working. We kindly were allowed to shelter with some of the animals when the rain was at its worse!

There was such a good buzz amongst the village, all these westerners coming to help. Even the school children were so excited to have us there and grateful for the work we were doing.

2) Support Is Not Getting To Those Who NEED It

Throughout the week we met many Nepalese both within Kathmandu and outside in the rural villages. We spoke with them to get their thoughts on if they were getting the support that they need - They aren't.

If you donated to Nepal to support the post-earthquake efforts, how did your donation get used? How quickly did those NGOs make an impact? Do you know? Many don't - Transparency is vital. With some of the larger NGOs, the majority of staff and vehicles remained parked as they 'assessed the situation'. There seemed to be mass dis-organisation and chaos at the centres. Bureaucracy and politics play a big role in big organisation and usually takes them a while to get moving during disaster relief so surely partnering with the local NGOs is the right answer.

The impact that Nepal Rises and Effect.org made with less money and people is truly amazing. For phase one impact (the first 15 days) we spent $41,000 dollars and mobilised 526 volunteers, distributed 18,000 kg of food, 733 tarps, 47,000 medicine and purified over 1 million litres of water that helped 187,000 people.

The first several days their volunteers would often report back that we were the first aid group to help them. They maximised technology to support their efforts and their impact was all tracked on google maps and can be seen here.

It's not about competition, it's about cooperation and ensuring that as much of the money donated is getting to the people who need it.

Trade is also an issue. The prices of everything has gone up significantly, yet the farmers are not increasing the costs of their crops. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go into a rice-paddy and help plant rice, understanding more about the process and the work going into it. 

Although there was clearly a language barrier, the locals really enjoyed spending time with us and we had a great few hours together. They even cooked us a local dinner in the evening - some of our stomaches survived the local delicacies (Mine did not!).

3) Child Sex-Trafficking Remains A Massive Issue

On the Monday we visited Raksha Nepal and spent the afternoon with an amazing group of children. They welcomed us with a local song and dance.

Unfortunately these children were all victims of sex trafficking. Raksha Nepal is an NGO founded in 2004 run by women and girls who have been sexually exploited. They work with the children to identify alternative livelihood opportunities to start a safe and respectful life. Raksha Nepal believes that once girls and women are confident and educated the entire family becomes educated. This is one of the reasons that the organisation is determined and committed to work towards the overall wellbeing of women and girls who are sexually exploited.

They were a young group who loved singing, dancing and playing games. To us, an afternoon of fun, to them, a lifetime memory.

Effect was originally founded to focus on education, creating a school in India. Over time, children started to disappear from this school. Casey (CEO Effect) discovered that this was down to children being trafficked either within India or across to Nepal for sex. Fake 'businessmen' pretend they will pay the parents in return for employing their children (taking them away) and the parents unfortunately believe this to be legitimate. Unfortunately the payments rarely/never come and the children are put into a truly horrific life. There is an open border between India and Nepal which makes the process of getting across the border much easier. The earthquake has unfortunately worsened the situation.

Effect have done an amazing job supporting in Nepal, though remain focused on their core mission, to improve education, keep these children in school, which in turn should help this horrific trafficking.

4) Technology Is Fundamental To Rebuilding Nepal

We took part in a 54 hour 'Startup Weekend' working with many local Nepalese developers. The goal was to create a brand new business idea which could help with the rebuilding of Nepal.

After a great brief on the situation in Nepal, the majority of the room then began pitching their ideas to each other before voting for the top ideas.

There were so many things to take into account - What was needed, the local culture, language barriers, literacy levels, technology limitations - This wasn't going to be simple. There were some amazing ideas ranging from keeping Nepal in the news (to ensure further support and increase tourism), to a technology platform to coordinate relief efforts.

The team I was in focused on a very different side - the impact on mental health following the disaster. Our pitch was called 'Start the Conversation' - A platform to help train people within Nepal to help people with the loss of their families and loved ones. It would also connect many people in the west who are trained and want to help, yet don't know anyone locally to connect with to help. We particularly focused on schools and children, recognising they are our future and the sheer pain in loosing a loved one at such a young age.

Over the 3 days, teams created their businesses, working application and financial model, ready to pitch on the Saturday evening.

With a panel of expert judges from amazing backgrounds and experience, they were keen to select a proposition that could go from an idea to reality. Although our pitch wasn't successful, I'm confident many will go forwards and technology really can make an impact in rebuilding Nepal.

5) Nepal Will Rise - Beauty Within The Devastation

The fact remains that Nepal is such a beautiful country and this beauty still exists. I have only been exposed to Kathmandu and the hiking trails in the mountains, yet know there is even more to explore. As Nepal continues to rebuild itself, they need tourism, they need volunteers (or voluntourism!) and need hikers. Nepal needs to remain in the news.

There's a great campaign going on called 'I Am In Nepal Now' to bring back tourists. The government has projected losing 40 percent of tourists this year due to the mass departure of the visitors after the earthquake and cancellation of Nepal’s trip booking for the upcoming seasons that is estimated to be more than 70 percent.

People need to know how beautiful it is and how much potential it has. I am still determined to go back in 18 months and complete my original challenge of hiking up to Everest Base Camp. 

I am immensely grateful for this opportunity to go back to Nepal and make an impact. I made some great friends within Salesforce, Google and of course, with some amazing Nepalese.

Nepal will continue to have a place close to my heart. They need your help and you can help in many ways, whether with donations to the right NGO, your time or your skills. I would strongly recommend to explore working with Effect International and Nepal Rises if you really want to make an impact, or reach out to me and I can make some connections.

Live Life. Give Back. Change Lives.