From a close friend who has lived in Kathmandu for years. One problem with Nepalese relief is that there is substantial graft and one must be very careful about who one donates through. I just received this and want to pass it along.
Besides Pachak Rinpoche’s relief fund ( Chokgyur Lingpa Foundation), here is another one where the money will go to relief and not to admin. costs. Friend, Chris Kolisch, has written below about a good place to donate for disaster relief here in Nepal:
“This is what we are doing to respond to the disaster in Nepal. Having learned a lot from son Bodhi’s tsunami relief work in Thailand, we have established this relief fund to make sure the money goes where it is needed most, not into admin costs. Please pass along to anyone who would be interested, FB, Twitter, etc.
Thanks and prayers for our Nepali friends.
NEPAL EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FUND
Because of the recent devastating 7.9 earthquake in Nepal, Cheppu Himal has created a relief fund. Those workers, students and friends we have have been able to contact are ok, but many others we are still trying to reach. We are gathering funds to support recovery initiatives to make sure that 100% of support will get to the earthquake victims. Anyone who would like to help can do so by going to PayPal.com and making donations to wehelpnepal@gmail.com which is a tax deductible charity (501C) through our partners Andaman Discoveries & Global Purpose. New info just in: they have upgraded their site to make it more efficient. It is now: www.wehelpnepal.org
#WeHelpNepal Join us in supporting locally-led, corruption-free efforts so that your contributions fund need, not greed…. WEHELPNEPAL.ORG
Thanks for this information,
Thanks for this information, Rosa. In the wake of horrible tragedies like what has happened in Nepal there is always a rush to donate ; to help in some way. Unfortunately, without a little research we could be sending money to an organization that provides little actual help. This is good information.
Lack of empathy?
It’s kind of amazing how a rather epic event like this falls from the headlines these days. Not so long ago, something like this would be BIG news, rather than just news. Locals would form relief groups and gather up items for aid. We’d be horrified, and talk about it.
Now it seems we move along more quickly, while aftershocks may still be underway. Are we becoming numb to this sort of thing? If so, pity us…
Thousands dead on 9/11 caused us to completely remake our country and start multiple wars. Thousands dead in Nepal, and we look for something else on TV. Maybe they’ll get our attention again if musicians hold a benefit and come up with a trendy hashtag.
Or maybe we are overwhelmed, unable to expend the energy even if we wanted to.
Or maybe it is because it is Nepal.
The only headline I see today at the Guardian is: “‘No one has come’: Nepal villagers wait for aid to flow beyond the capital”
Chris: I think some of it
Chris: I think some of it also has to do with the location and some of the inefficiency of the government even in the best of times. This is from an Australian newspaper. Also note that there is only sporadic electricity even for journalists to get information out and in fact, on a normal pre-earthquake day they did not have electricity 24 hours a day in Kathmandu.
http://www.southasia.com.au/?p=1084
Something uncanny and bizarre is going on at the only international airport in Nepal. Foreigners have touched down at the airport with the humanitarian intent of helping earthquake victims but they are stuck within the airport confines, a latest report suggests.
Earthquake rescuers from Japan and France are ‘stranded’ at the Tribhuvan International Airport because the Government of Nepal apparently does not know who should be sent to which area and how to distribute the relief materials.
“There is a French team which has arrived with sniffer dogs. Similarly, there is a Japanese team with rescue materials,” reports onlinekhabar.com.
Rescuers from France: Government of Nepal unable to ‘manage’. Photo: onlinekhabar.com
They are stuck at the airport because the Nepali government is unable to coordinate and manage these rescue missions sent by the international community. This is in contrast with what the government spokesperson, Minendra Rijal, had said this morning (27 April), that the government had already decided which country’s rescue team would go to which affected district. But a meeting of secretaries (of various ministries) presided over by the chief secretary decided during the day that the state would accept foreign assistance ‘only in special technical areas’ and ‘urged foreigners not to add to the crowd’, onlinekhabar.com said.
Rescuers from Japan: Government of Nepal unable to ‘manage’.
According to chief secretary Lilamani Poudel, the government has requested to send only orthopedists, neurological surgeons or experts who could help find victims buried under the rubble.
The foreign ministry of Nepal is due to hold talks with various diplomatic missions about the issue, it is understood.
Quite a mess
Very true. Aid organizations are working but facing big obstacles.
But, few Americans were there or killed, so American media and audiences aren’t quite as interested. Our empathy has either run dry or is lacking. Or we are distracted already by other things.
Baltimore.
Baltimore.