Dear all,
I hope this finds you well... I can't believe it has been a year since I last wrote something on this blog. Sometimes it feels like a past life! I really miss the days of endless excitement, rice paddy fields, and bright mountain ranges.
Unfortunately, today I am writing to you all to ask you for your help in relief efforts. Recent deadly flash floods and landslides in Melamchi and Helambu, Nepal have brought loss to the community I got to know so dearly the past year. People have been displaced, gone missing, and several have been swept away by the floods and died. In Melamchi, seven people have been confirmed dead. Thankfully people in Bhotenamlang, the small village I was living in, are doing well given the circumstances and as far as I know everyone I know is safe!
(Nepali Times)
The town of Melamchi has been decimated, with rows of houses, bus stops, shops, and even a massive bridge being swept away in the Indrawati and Melamchi River. The roads are blocked and helicopters are dropping supplies in. Previous wildfires in the region, shaky slopes, poorly constructed roads, and heavy rains compounded with the mismanagement of the water supply system in the region to create the conditions for landslides and then massive flooding. The nearby Melamchi Drinking Water Project has also been destabilizing river banks. In short, so many different factors led to this situation.
With extreme weather becoming the norm, this is bound to keep happening at greater intensity, and it always affects the poorest the most. All of this is occurring during a pandemic with a deadly new variant circulating and massive unemployment and rising poverty...
I have been looking at clips from the news in shock. The stand with the rickety buses and snack shop overlooking the city is gone. The buffalo meat mo:mo dumpling stand I would frequent before a bus ride back to Kathmandu has been ripped away.
(Nepali Times)
If you are able to, I would really appreciate your support for the fundraiser run by the Himalayan Foundation. Please donate a few dollars to this GoFundMe, run by a close family friend who grew up in the affected region of Helambu. He is in touch with people there to provide emergency relief such as food, shelter, and warm clothes for displaced people and families.
(Nepali Times)
(Nepali Times)
More info: