Remember the back-to-back earthquakes in Nepal earlier this year? Memory/timeframe jog: the first occurred on April 25 registering at 7.8 and the second, a 7.3 aftershock, on May 12. Combined they killed over 9,000 people and injured another 25,500. How on earth can I spin a positive, happy tale from such devastation? Well, sometimes really good things happen because an idea is sparked through our need to help others undergoing a devastating situation.
And that's precisely what prompted Nepalese native, Idylwild resident, and Stoneleigh Elementary School parent, Season Shrestha, along with other Baltimore-area Nepalese friends and family, including Amritman Singh, Bikram Man Singh, Jayambu Ranjit, Bhuban Pikha, Dinesh Shrestha, Shakti Joshi, Gaju Shrestha, Durga Shrestha, and Balfiopal Shresth to create the non-profit organization Friends from Sankhu. Sankhu, located about 10 miles northeast of the capital city of Katmandu, was catastrophically devastated by the earthquakes.
Over 80 percent of the town was destroyed. And with many residents injured and a significant number of buildings destroyed, the upcoming monsoon season, which starts in mid-June and lasts through early September, will be brutal and deadly. Unless someone thinks up a practical and tested solution and has a solid financial plan.
Friends from Sankhu have both. What's their goal? Tin shelters for families prior to the start of the monsoon season as well as tin shelters to protect and store community artifacts/valuables until permanent structures can be built or rebuilt, rice for the food insecure families who live on the outskirts of Sankhu, and school supplies for local children whose schools are not damaged but cannot access the supplies in their destroyed homes. The tin shelters cost $150 each and the group hopes to raise enough money to build 100 as quickly as possible.
Enter Sarah Van Tiem, Anneslie resident and friend of Season, his wife Heather and their children, Sam and Kate. Hearing of Season's plan and having a great, big, giant humanitarian heart herself, Sarah suggested a community dinner to benefit Nepal and accept donations in lieu of charging a fee. Brilliant. So that's what happened. On May 27, about 100 people from Rodgers Forge, Anneslie, Idylwild, Wiltondale, Stoneleigh and other local neighborhoods attended a traditional Nepalese dinner of dry fish, lightly fried hard boiled eggs (both symbolize luck), dumplings, rice, chicken curry, dal (lentil soup), mustard greens, spiced chick peas, pickled dicon, cauliflower and potato, lalmohan (sweet cheese in syrup that tastes similar to a donut), fresh vegetables and flattened rice. The meal, provided pot luck-style complimentary of Season's friends Meena Pradhan, Mamata Joshi, Gauri Singh, Archana Sing, Neeta Shrestha, Kiran Ken Ranjit, Ram Lal Shrestha, and Kathmandu Kitchen in Towson and held in the Fellowship Hall of Woodbrook Baptist Church, raised $4,700 in donations. In addition to the delicious meal, a silent auction for an original painting by artist Warren Timlen pushed the evening's total to $5,000.
If you're interested in learning more or making a donation, it's not too late. Friends from Sankhu have a GoFundMe page http://www.gofundme.com/supportsankhu where they have already raised over $13k.
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