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.
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
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.
The
house of Ramji Tamang (L) and the surrounding homes were destroyed or badly
damaged.
The
full school on the photo.
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 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.
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