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5e newsletter Earthquake Sponsortrek Nepal

To 4th newsletter earthquake


Noordbeemster Jan. 2016.

Dear Friends of Nepal, Namastι!

In the news media it appears the earthquake probelms are over, but this is not true. During the monsoon,
there were the mudslides, and now there is an oil boycott by India!

The oil boycott
The  minority group of the Madhresi live in the south of Nepal. These are Nepalese who are often married to Indian women.
This minority group does not agree with the constitution which finally was published on 20 September.
The Madhresi are afraid that they get too little power and influence through this constitution. Riots started and several policemen were killed.
India sympathizes with them and therefore closed the borders. For Nepal, this is a great tragedy and this is worse than the earthquake itself.
The earthquakes were very destructive but what India is now doing to its neighbor Nepal is indescribable.
Food is scarce and gasoline or diesel for transport costs € 7 per liter on the black market.
Taxis are very expensive and there is hardly any rebuilding, especially in remote areas.
We hope the international community will exert pressure on India to cease the boycott and help Nepal to rebuilt the country.

kamperen voor gas Grens gesloten voor olie en gas

Wait days for a bottle of gas?                                                                            The border of India with Nepal: Humanitarian disaster!

Keraunja
It is still not clear whether Keraunja will be rebuilt. If so, it will certainly be smaller than the original village.

At this moment, there is no decision about the reconstruction of the health post, but when there is a demand for this, we will certainly progress this.
The cost will be between € 11000 and € 12000. The new building must be earthquake-resistant, and this comes at a higher costs.
We hope to come up soon with definite plans and will keep you informed.

The people, mostly small farmers, who remained in Keraunja are still constructing of  temporary shelters.
The monsoon has caused a lot of mudslides. The situation is dramatic, see our previous newsletter.

DRC
DRC is also affected by the oil boycott, they now cook on wood.I just heard from Tendy Sherpa, that several participants of treks in NepaL
l made donations on the spot, directly to DRC. This was very useful because buying firewood is expensive.

Two used computers were installed and it's always a good feeling when old but still good things can be reused. Furthermore,
it is going reasonably well with the project but we need more donations, because of the higher prices after the earthquake and above all by the oil boycott.

Our contribution to the costs for this year will be € 11,000, approximately € 2,000. more than last year.

Earthquake or oil boycott, the children get lessons. Two computers got a good 2nd life in DRC                                                           

na de aardbeving gaat het weer goed in het project DRC  de "nieuwe " gebruikte computers
Earthquake or oil boycott, the children get lessons.                                                  Two computers got a good 2nd life in DRC 

Gaira Mudi secondary school
Destroyed by the earthquake, now unusable and they need our help.Since 1984, we made hikes with the then young Tendy Sherpa.
Our first trip was to Rolwaling and in Gairamudi, at the foot of the mountains in Rolwaling in the district Dolakha.
Here he acquired his porters and Sherpas guides. The population is mostly Tamang and all our staff  was related.

Many of us know Ramji (guide), Yok Lal (cook), Tharka (guide), Harka (cook), and many other good and loyal staff,
who also helped to realize the medical project in Keraunja. Their village Gaira Mudi has been destroyed by the earthquake.
Through donations, the staff of Tendy received about 600 euros per person each but the government gave only an additonal 150 euros!

The government promised 2000 euros per destroyed house, but that may be delayed for a long time.
Individual help is difficult to achieve, otherwise we would have to provide the whole village of new homes

We still want to do something for the village and the government is considering to restore the school of Gairamudi at the time of this writing.
There are no details yet. The recovery will cost at least € 12000.

In the next newsletter, we hope to have more news. Below some pictures of the damage.
An additional problem is the border blockade by India, so everything has become more expensive, due to higher cost for transportation.

het huis van Ramji Tamang  het dorp is zwaar beschadigd
The house of Ramji Tamang (L) and the surrounding homes were destroyed or badly damaged.

De hele school op de kiek
The full school on the photo.

interieur van de school De tijdelijke school
was badly damaged and equipment destroyed. Now children are taught in a kind of open cattle shelter. Restoration of the school is The school urgent.

Actions
Various sponsors organized activities like during birthdays, ascending montain summits and sportactivities.
A few examples.

Rob Hageman neemt de mooie check in ontvangst 

Rob Hageman was sponsored for a 4-day walk, this provided a nice amount of € 2000. The GBKN foundation doubled the amount,
so that during his "walking tour" € 4000 was raised!


On the occasion of his 60th birthday, friends of Hector collected € 1335.

Sponsoring climbs in Ecuador and Pyrenees:
Mr and Mrs Bijlsma once again made a great contribution. The climbs in Ecuador and the journey through the Pyrenees raised € 2150.


 op de top van de Illinizia Northe 5.126 meter

We would like to thank all sponsors for their generous donations!

We wish you a happy and healthy 2016!

On behalf of the Sponsortrek Board,

Rob Kolber

www.sponsortrek.nl

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