Nepal Student Association aims to aid relief efforts after earthquake strikes Nepal
When the Indo-Australian tectonic plate pushed itself further into the Eurasia plate, it created an earthquake that not only devastated a country, but also was felt around the globe, said Susov Dhakal, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Idaho.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which struck Nepal last Saturday, killed more than 5,000 people, and responders are continuing to find fatalities as cleanup efforts more forward.
Dhakal, who is from Nepal and is finishing his doctorate degree in neuroscience, said of Nepal’s 26 million citizens, about 10,000 have been injured and more than 8 million have been affected by the earthquake.
“The earthquake did not just do damage to one town or devastate one village,” Dhakal said. “Everyone across all of Nepal has been affected by this tragedy.”
The earthquake, which was centered in the Nepalese district of Ghorka, impacted neighboring countries as well and Dhakal said there have been reported deaths in India and China.
Bhanu Bhattarai, current president of the Nepal Student Association (NSA), said NSA is working hard to raise awareness of the devastation caused by the earthquake as well as to raise relief funds.
Part of the NSA’s efforts will include a candlelight vigil to mourn the lives that have been lost. The vigil, titled “Solidarity for Earthquake Victims in Nepal: Candlelight vigil and earthquake awareness” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Friendship Square in downtown Moscow.
We’re expecting students from WSU and even Lewiston to join us in this vigil,” Dhakal said. “Many Nepalese students here, they have been directly impacted by this disaster — they have lost friends and family and they are grieving personally, so we want to show them that we’re here and we are all feeling this together.”
Bhattarai said in addition to the vigil, NSA will also set up tables where students have the opportunity to learn more about the impacts of the earthquake and — if they feel inclined — donate to relief funds.
“We are also reaching out to ASUI and other organizations on campus to spread awareness and encourage their involvement in aid efforts,” Bhattarai said. “We’re hoping that the aid we can provide will be the result of a community effort so the collective fund will be more effective.”
Dhakal said the goal in NSA’s fundraising is to get as much aid to Nepal as quickly as possible.
“Nepal is a very, very poor country,” Dhakal said. “It will really help if people donate at this time, because the sooner aid is brought to the country, the sooner its people can utilize that help and start to build themselves back up after this crisis.”
Bhattarai said although the earthquake did not personally affect him, he mourns for the loss of so many lives, as well as the loss of entire villages and world heritage cites.
“Luckily, my family was not hurt and they are not greatly impacted,” Bhattarai said. “But there are so many people back in our country who are suffering and so much of our history has been destroyed by this disaster … Our country has so much healing to do.”
Unlike Bhattarai, Dhakal said the earthquake has directly impacted him.
“So much damage was done to my parent’s home that they are currently living outside in a tent,” Dhakal said. “It is raining, there is no light and no Internet — it’s been really stressful.”
Dhakal said the fundraising efforts of NSA are a personal matter and he hopes its efforts will encourage the Moscow community to contribute to sending aid and support Nepal.
“It’s a horrible experience for us to be here far from our families while they suffer,” he said. “It has been difficult for us emotionally, so we want to do our best to help them and be there for them in every way possible … That is why for us, setting up relief funds and donating to organizations like Red Cross is so important.”
Dhakal said despite destruction and damage that has been done to Nepal, he sees hope in joint aid efforts.
“It’s important that we’re joining these efforts,” Dhakal said. “We might be a small organization, but a tragedy like this cannot be repaired over night by one person only … We can all do something to help and we can all work to slowly make this better.”
Corrin Bond can be reached at [email protected]