The worst earthquake in 80 years shook Nepal to its core on April 25^th. Earth quakes of this size (magnitude 7.9) happen roughly every century in Nepal, with the last one in 1934 killing over 9000 people. Nepal, a country ranking 145 on the HDI rank has been devastated by this quake. The haphazard building of tightly packed houses in Kathmandu, following mass migration to the capital was a recipe for disaster. Building regulations do exist in Nepal, but are rarely followed, except of course by those educated and rich enough to be able to. It is not the earthquake that kills people, it is their buildings; their shops, their schools, their homes.

Last year HELP volunteers spent a couple of months living and working for HELP Nepal in Gunsa, a village in the Helambu valley 70km NE of Kathmandu. To get to Gunsa takes an 8 hour bus journey from Kathmandu, followed by a 5 hour up-hill trek. So as you can imagine, it is not easy to get the aid flown in to Kathmandu up to this remote region. The valley is outstandingly beautiful with villages straight out of a story book. However, as fairytale-esque as it might appear, a village like Gunsa is plagued with socio-economic problems. The medical facilities are scarce, and many of the children I was teaching were clearly malnourished. Despite these hardships the people of Gunsa were some of the most warm and welcoming I have ever met. Readily opening their homes to us at every opportunity, beckoning us in for tea the moment they saw us.

We were devastated to learn of the destruction that has taken place in the villages of the Helambu valley. Our main source of information about  friends and students in Gunsa came from Jimmy lama, the founder of HELP and aid coordinator. It is heart-breaking to hear of the situation in the valley. Many of the villages were almost entirely flattened, and sadly we have learnt that in the village where we worked at least 90 have been confirmed dead, 30 of these children.

HELP and MONDO challenge are coordinating most of the relief work in this vulnerable area, using the connections and infrastructure they had set up to get the vital supplies to those who need it. Many, many have died, and most have lost their homes, but now the focus must be on those who have survived.

As media attention begins to wain, so too do donations. However for the people of Nepal their needs are not waning. They don’t stop needing food when the cameras are taken home. Their houses don’t reappear when the reporters turn their backs. If anything the need for help is intensifying as the days since the initial disaster leave them longer without food and shelter.

I received a message from a friend (Aasha) from Gunsa the other day:

"please help me. I think I will die of hunger. I need your help. My family have no house"

She’s right to ask me, to ask us. It is our responsibility to help at this time. Our responsibility as people living in a country 131 places above Nepal on the HDI (human development index) ranking. Our responsibility as people who have a roof over our heads. Our responsibility as the people who were lucky enough to be born when and where we were through no virtue of our own.

So please donate today and help us rebuild the villages of the Helambu valley.