Recent update!

 

My sister going through the rubble of our house in the mountain

My dad in front of the school yard. 

My dad ex president of the school is assessing the damage in the school

Today, I would like to thank all of you who made all of this possible by giving for Nepal particularly my village of Ichok and surrounding. I would like to thank Bob & Connie Erickson from Egg Harbor, Kate Crosson from Egg Harbor, Ben Mcmahon from Door County Brewing Co. Bailys Harbor, Students, teachers & staffs from Sevastopol School, Sevastopol, Egg Harbor Business Association, The board of Landmark Resort, Egg Harbor, Kimberlee Bagnall Sturgeon Bay, Paula & Len Hrnung from Madison, Ken & Barbara Treml from Green Bay, Gerald & Kimberly Westman from Ashland, Cindy Neuville Sturgeon Bay, Mary & Michael Gehm Sturgeon Bay, Richard & Sharon Brabson IL, Janice Slan, Vincent Kusek & Betty Kusek IL, Cheryl Simon sturgeon bay, Tami Dosotelle sturgeon bay, Betty Holland Sister Bay, Mathew Olson Fish Creek, Doug & Anne Stangel De Pere, Patricia Harkaway IL, James & Linda Adams Sturgeon Bay, Dave & Sharon Grehn Ashland, Tom & Judy Ashland, Heidi & Jeff Forester Superior, Jill & Terry Stebner Minnisota, Ryan Hugget MN, Penny Sterling “I hope this helps at least a little” IL, Doris Bodenner Sturgeon Bay, Jaelle Dragomir OR, Raeonna Jordan Bailys Harbor, Gloria Doughert Ellison Bay “Blessings to all from the Door county. We are all people of the earth”. , Thomas lesh Chicago IL, Jemma Lund, De Pere, Jordan Pease Ashland OR, Karen Kierstyn Sturgeon Bay, Julie Kudick Fish Creek, Berne Clary IL, Katrina Newby Scandinavia, WI, Joe & Sandy Hurley Sturgeon Bay, Jeffry Freiburger, IL, Susumo Matsumoto Japan, Gonzalo Benard Portugal, Loyd Boum Sturgeon Bay, Kathy Navis Egg Harbor, Carolina Bacelis Green Bay, Jason Knight Green Bay, Timothy Graul Sturgeon Bay, Susan Gigot-Klein Sturgeon Bay, Summer Zifko NC, Suraj Bista “Glad to be part of your effort” (Nepal) Omaha NE, Prasanna Dhungana (Nepal) Austin TX, Donna Vincent Sturgeon Bay, Kimberly Schmitt Madison, Rani Esposito Westchester IL, Eric Vollrath Sturgeon Bay, Ed Elliott Sister Bay, Patricia Stierna Sturgeon Bay, Aaron Hilpipre De Pere, Alicia Willis Chicago, Clark Weichmann IL, Ben Strenski Green Bay, GypsyStomp Sturgeon Bay, Brilliant Stranger Fish Creek, Delane Jome Sturgeon Bay, Nick Wallner Sobieski WI, Josh Bastianello Cedarburg, WI, Cameron Vande Hei Cape Coral FL, Joel Mayer Durham NC, Kerry & Jon Hurley Sturgeon Bay, Kelly Loose Plymouth WI, Nevin Hersch Chicago IL, Jessica Holland Sturgeon Bay, Jessica Adams Sturgeon Bay, Gay Pustaver Sturgeon Bay, Jarod Bastianello Wrightstown WI, John Knapp Milwaukee WI.

I am honored to be part of such a wonderful community and friends. Cannot thank you enough for your contribution. Truly feels great that we could come together and do good for the people who need our help. This is a very short list of names of individuals who I could get names but there are so many other people that I do not even know or met have pitched in and helped in my (our) cause. I would like to thank you and please accept my gratitude and apology that I couldn’t get your name or missed to list it. May all of us find peace and happiness everyday at all circumstances. 

I have met so many kind and compassionate people during this process of helping Earthquake victims of Nepal. It overwhelmed me and I am truly blown away by your courage to give unconditionally. I can surely say that midst of all the chaos in the world we can still come together for the cause to uplift human suffering. This is very remarkable. Thank you for everything you are doing and continue to do so because this life is very short and fragile. One day we may need such help because of this very uncertainty in nature we cannot say what lies ahead for me, you, our place the earth. 

My cousin (volunteer) buying solar panels for the villagers

Villagers gathered to repair the school

School toilet being repaired

Extensive land deformation.

I hear school is being repaired at the meantime Government of Nepal department of Education has provided temporary shelters for the school children and classes have been resuming however due to the monsoon season it is still difficult to conduct classes completely & in regular basis without proper structured buildings. 

Our centuries old cemetery. 

Solar panel to recharge any mobile devices for all.

My sister Lhakpa going through the rubble.

Solar panel to the community.

I also would like thank all the volunteers in Nepal who have worked so hard day in day out risking their lives in this remote area. May be soon I will personally thank you in person for your great work of compassion. Without you this would not have been possible at all. 

Next in line of project

Dear friends, Namaste & greetings.

This is the school I attended when I was little.

you may have been wondering what is happening after all these chaos & activities? Nepal still gets frequent after shocks and rumor of the further tremor does not help either. Due to these embedded fear of earthquakes people just begin to believe even such rumors when we do not effective means of information, though Government news agency blares frequently do not believe in such man made news without fact finding. Well, to tell you the truth is that when the land you are standing on is shaking quite frequently, we begin to believe in any news or rumor when it comes to saving you own life. It could happen to anyone and even in well educated society.

Talking about education Nepal is still behind and it may take decades to catch up to developed countries, Everything takes time. When one does not have enough food to eat education becomes secondary but surely people of Nepal are getting to understand the value of education. Our initial effort was to provide immediate help but now we are focusing on school building projects. My father and other village members are working on renovating the schools in the village. I am still collecting funds but now something solid, which could last for a long time. Government may provide help but unsure of how much they will get but rest I will support from the fund that I have collected so far and the manpower will be provided by the villages. Currently I am concentrating on the school in my village and if I have leftover, will be distributed two other schools based on the availability.

Jyambeyang Primary School, my father help built this one.

Villages are still recovering from the damages and beginning to heal the scars from this calamity. It may take months even years to get over the fear of such destruction. My mother have not slept in the house since the day of big earthquake April 25th. She is one of many such individuals who have been affected in such scale. I cannot imagine how she felt when house she was standing on was moving like a boat in a rough water, though our house still standing and fine compared to others. I have some images of tent life in near my parents' house in the city.



Tent life seem normal when everyone in your community is living under such condition, on top Nepali people are resilient. They will accept any condition or situation and live with it. That could be their greatest strength in this situation as well as weakness. But I would rather consider as strength over weakness.

Before the tents

My mom with my sister's friend in front of her tent.

After the tents.

Purnima with her child and other people

My sister Nun with kids in tent.

Kids playing

These are some of the images taken by my nun sister, who just visited from Varanasi, India where she is doing her Buddhist studies. As you can see from the pictures that although living condition is poor and basic, people seem happy & kids are learning in tents. However, if the tremors continue, which still is. They may stay here longer. It is the monsoon season therefore it is going to be harder for them. Hopefully this will end soon and they could resume their normal life. I cannot imagine the fear one could have after such destruction.

My friend Rajendra Gajurel who and I were friends when we attended the school and are still friends tells me that village I spent 5 years of my life when we were attending school has to be relocated. The land has been deformed so badly that fear of landslide is so high. Cracks are deep and a lot of it, my friend from the village told on our skype conversation. He used to own a glass shop in the city of Kathmandu, which is completely shattered. Below 3 pictures are from him.

Glass shop my friend owned.

Village hut

Compassion in Action ! Thank you All Volunteers & Donors for your kindness!

Dear Friends, Namaste


 The people of Ichok and many other villages would like to thank you for your kindness. I personally thank you all for your unconditional support towards the people whose lives have been changed forever due to this earthquake. I am proud of my sister, cousins, friends and all the volunteers who worked tirelessly day & night, hungry and without sleep. "As we were transporting goods, debris & rocks were falling due to constant tremors at one point we ran off the vehicles for safety," said Purnima, the organizer. It was overwhelming, people came to help distribute from all over. Truly amazing to see people coming together and managing collectively. This help is just to manage to lift their spirit, main challenges are still ahead as monsoon is approaching there could be many landslides. As per listed villages on the banner, no family is left behind. Each 1100 family received sanitary soaps, 1 kilo lentils, 1 liter vegetable oil, 1 kilo salt, 1 mattress, 1 pack of chilli peppers. In addition to that a monastery has received some bundles of tin roof as it is vital for the culture to have the temple. And some mountain villages higher in elevation have received few solar panels for mobile charges for the community so they can communicate with their loved ones in distance without having to reach the bottom of the hills to get to someone's vehicle to charge their devices (radio, mobile, etc) These essentials are prepared based on villagers request. Jimi Lama a volunteer, said this made their daily life and diet a little spicier as how they lived in the past. People were really happy and appreciative for the help as even Government has not been able to reach these areas because of the rugged and mass catastrophe. We organized really well as we picked the leaders in each community for the volunteers, says Purnima. I am so grateful & happy for everything that we could do for the people of my village. The fund is being collected continuously for further projects such as repairing school, which although Government would take care of it right now, the process is slow. There are 4 schools I know, which are all damaged. I will do what I can based on the funds.

But for now please view these pictures. There are still more photos to come but due to 2nd earthquake many shops & photo labs are closed in the city, as soon as possible, will be published for now please view these pictures. Pictures alone tells us a lot of story.  This is wonderful as it will help in their healing process and rise. It is important for me because I live in a distant land where I only wait for the news to come. Not being close to your loved ones during such calamity, how one would deal with it? How one can feel, useful & find purpose? This is how I am dealing with it like many many other Nepalese. Thank you for making this happen. You truly made a difference in the lives of so many, who have lost everything. We love you all.

Reaching more places!

Dear Friends & good people of the world, initially we expected to help only 2 villages as they are the ones we thought & could assist but now news of help has spread surrounding villages as well and they would need help too. Also due to some generous donors, I with your help am able to raise final total so far 13707.22. and still continuing to grow. We are including 2 more villages (200 more families.) This is huge for me and my heartfelt gratitude to you all.

Nepal South Asian Tai-Chi Gold Medalist Ang Babu Lama

So far our help has been concentrated on basic essentials such as soap, lentils, salt, chilly peppers, mattress, cooking oil for every  family in these villages; Gohore, Ichok, Ghopte Ghyang, Nalung Kharka, Dhunge, Manegeru, Dhapsung, Dakpa Kharka, Nima Dombo, Tartong, Ribarma and more villages are being added. This list is being prepared based on the villagers need and volunteers's suggestion.. Initially we were providing rice but some other Buddhist organization has stepped up to the plate so we changed our tactics to maximize the resources for the people. These items are what actually they need at this time or always. These essentials have been part of the lifestyle in the remote part of Nepal.

This is beyond I have ever imagined, I needed to help or I could. This is all possible due to generous people like you. I will update the blog as things progress. Purnima my sister the organizer of this relief effort has received all of the funds except some still continuing.  There are still funds being received on and off line. Although, my goal has exceeded there is much to be done in these villages. If we have funds left over from this relief package, our goal will be concentrated on repairing of three schools at first the Ichok Primary School, Jyambeyang Primary School and Dhapsung Primary School. These schools get very basic funds from the Government and we would like to help, if we can.

My sister Purnima carrying her baby & organizing 

My first ever School was Ichok Primary School, where I spent 6 years of my childhood walking barefoot everyday up and down the hill. Then my father realized it is too difficult for the other village children so he started a basic school in the village on volunteer basis, later that very school became Jyambeyang Primary School and Government registered with 2 teachers up to 5th grade.

Dhapsung Primary School in 2007

My wife Kim with the villa

After I graduated my 5th grade. Then I moved to lower village of Gohore to go to school further down by the river. My father had made arrangements for me to stay with the family that dad knew. There I stayed with a family for 5 years until I graduated my 10th grade from Shree Saraswoti Secondary High School. I spent 5 years of my life living with a family. At that time, there was no electricity, no bus service, no cellphone, no TV. Our toys were dirt, rocks, sticks. Our play ground  were terraces. 

The family I lived with for 5 yrs. 

All schools have a dress code, which is sky blue shirt, and navy blue pants if you can afford otherwise just shorts. I had pair of shirts and pair of shorts and pants for the whole year. We all walked to school everyday, it would take 1 & half hour to get to school and during monsoon we cross rivers via hanging bridges and it would lengthen our time by 1/2 hour. Some of these hanging bridges had missing wooden pieces so we had to jump and be careful. At times, I have dropped my books in the river as we carried our books in hand most of the time. Very few children would have umbrellas but most would have a polythene bag like a trash bag over our head. Shoes were luxury item so we all used flip flops, until it broke or hole in them. It was simple yet we used our resources fully. We ate basically 3 meals a day. In the morning before we went to school and as soon as we got back from school, we would eat light snack and then meal before dusk. It was not my home so I couldn't ask a much, I ate what I was given. Felt as if I was never full but it is what it is. There were not a lot of choices either, it was rice, lentils, milk sometime, corn bread, millet bread etc. However, every meal contained salt & chilly pepper. Life style has not changed much since I left my village but I see they have electricity, cellphones and roads. But I hear all of these facilities are down due to this earthquake. Back then I used to read books and do homework during day light and at night we studied under a kerosene lamps. Now, I look back and feel nothing but grateful that I had to go through it because I see now the value of my time over there. Therefor, I have nothing but respect and love for the people who has given me such an opportunity to get this far. I always felt, I need to give back to the village and people but never was there any opportunity that I could. Few times, I have provided school supplies with help of my friends and myself but very minuscule. I always wanted to do more for the people.  

My buddy Purna Bahadur with his two kids and village kids. 

Even if I couldn't do much for the people of these villages during their happy times at least I am giving small token of support from the support I collected from friends & friends of Nepal. This is the time they need me the most. I hope they are okay because the damages from the April 25th earthquake is vast, incomprehensible and on top the May 8th earthquake 7.3 rector scale, there is no report yet from the villages. This new tremor has put a damper on our effort to get the supplies to the villages. But we are ready to get things moving. Within days, we will be distributing the above mentioned supplies for every family. 

Once again, I cannot thank you enough for the love & support you have showed us. You have made a difference in the lives of many. I assure you they will forever be grateful for your support. I have inserted below link regarding the latest news from Nepal. Thank you

Much peace & happiness to you all.

Prem Lama

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32701385