Help Them - Supporting Work in Nepal

[ColinD]

An appeal for your help & support, on behalf of Nepal. Corin is a friend of mine, I'm helping him with his charity work. I sincerely hope you can too.

Thank you, Colin.

 

Introducing Yolmo Connect

 

Yolmo Connect is a small charity set up by Corin Hardcastle to support his voluntary work in Nepal. Corin first visited in late 2012 for six months to work with the school at Melamchi Ghyang village, training teachers and students in IT skills, and helping to equip the school with a computer room and laptops. Over the subsequent two extended visits in 2014 & 2015 he began to work with other schools in the Yolmo valley. 

 

Skip to how you can help & support the people in Nepal

 

 

These are but a few images from these years.

This is Corin; on the right, in front of the School

Learning basic computer skills. Camera, international call to smile.

School playground, this is around 2500m ASL.

A proud teacher and class photo.

Volleyball, no beaches nearby.

Schools out, inspirational place to study.

 

The 23rd of April

It is this young girls first day at school.

[ColinD]

April 25th 2015, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck Nepal.

 

No-one heard from the valley or Corin for three days afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

"Just before midday I was working in the computer room when the corrugated-iron roof rattled - a blast of wind I thought, then it rattled and banged some more. "Earthquake!" shot through my mind as I felt the floor move and saw the walls shift; I dropped my laptop and ran outside.  The earth rose and shook and I was thrown six feet onto a wooden stair rail, grabbed it and clawed my way down the stone stairs and into the centre of the playground. The dust from the stone and mud walls filled the air, the ground groaned and moved and groaned and moved. Children cried, parents shouted for their children."
Extract from Corin's Story

 

Life has changed!

 

A Village Devastated: 130 homes, 6 trekking lodges, 1 health centre, 1 school, 2 school hostels

 

Nepals income is 25% Tourism, 25% NGO support and the rest internally made.

If we don't help them they are in dire straits economically let alone in the basics of survival at the moment.

 

 

Images before

 

Images after

 

[ColinD]

Post Quake ~ Significant Challenges

 

The whole of the village was devastated: 130 homes, 6 trekking lodges, the health centre and the school and its boys’ and girls’ hostels either fell down or were damaged beyond use. Corin was in the computer room in the school at the time of the earthquake - he and all the children got out safely, and remarkably only one person in the village died as the buildings collapsed around them.

 

To put the location into context, the nearest road as it was, is over 5 hours walk away.  Link to the School on google maps

 

This is a typical mountain road now.

 

Electricity supply is not guaranteed, more intermittent service, quite easily be off for five days at a time after a storm, when the roads are not blocked.

 

Since returning to the UK Corin has met with the other charities working in the village and school: Community Action Nepal and Nepalese Children’s Trust (in the UK) and KetaKeti (in Belgium) whose own volunteers he had already been working with in Nepal. Together they are pooling donations, resources, knowledge and voluntary time to bring immediate relief to the village and school and to support long-term recovery.

 

I'm committing our energy to this, as it's a specific region, one of many. All need help!

 

The challenges for these people are considerable. Given they are adept at surviving, building and living in this environment the risks going forward are huge, 3 principally exist...

• Landslides, have already taken out many of the tracks/roads. The monsoon; rainy, reason is about to hit. This is a natural cycle and landslides are not a new thing. However now most slopes have been shaken loose, it's highly likely these weakened slopes  will fail with a deluge of rain. They will wipe out anything in their path. Along with any agricultural/crop investment made on the land.

  

   

• Sanitation is shot to bits, the few toilets that flushed are buried under rubble. 

• Shelter, has been made on day#1, they are very resourceful people. There are large numbers of people, who will need more than a polythene sheet. 

  

   

[ColinD]

Ok, how can you help?

 

 

There are three principal ways you can help the people of Nepal and in particular the Yolmo Valley. 

 

 

1. Visit YolmoConnect and donate anything you can spare. I've seen the HMRC paper work. Please complete the gift aid forms too.

 

2. Donate IT laptops/equipment. Light weight, reasonably modern<=15" laptops are but one need. Everything has to be carried into the village.

 

3. Support with time and energy. As Corin, said, one of the best things he could do is dig a hole for a toilet pit... You could help, roughly flights are £600 and a visa is £75, clearly this needs liaising with the many activities in progress.

 

Also...

 

Our Big Meet on June 21st is holding a raffle, we're looking for any prizes, small or large through to amazing. If you can help, please get in touch, colin [at] briskoda.net. 

 

 

 

Thank you for your time in reading and looking. Please help in anyway you can.

 

Please:

 

Share this post to your friends.

 

Can you edit videos? Corin has a host of videos showing life as it was and how it will be again.  I'd like to help him wrap them.

 

Can your employer help in any way?

 

I'm promoting the work Corin does.

 

We'll also be holding a collection on June21st at our national. Sadly Corin cannot be with us due to a double booking, he wasn't aware of our dates whilst committing his time to this work over summer.

[ColinD]

Reserved for udpates.

 

Please reply below to keep this alive and also to share any ideas you have to assist these wonderful people.

 

Thank you.

[Hyphons]

There's not a great deal I can help with, I'll share this with friends and family of course and I've donated a sum of money which can hopefully be put to good use, my best wishes go to Corin and everyone involved in the charity and also in the Yolmo Valley

[Corin]

Thanks people - that is a massive £250 raised towards laptops, training and support in Nepal.

 

I go out in September for 2 months.

 

Much appreciated - hope we can do it again - I will make it next time  

[ColinD]

Food delivery for the village.

 

Remember, no roads to this, like many remote villages. Everything has to be brought in by hand or by NGO's in metal birds.

 

The quake is long since off the news channels, but the effort is ongoing.

 

[Hyphons]

Glad to see my money's gone to good use I'll have to make another small donation when I've sorted my debt out with paypal