I am joining the efforts of Peace Rehabilitation Center to lend a hand in the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal. I created this blog in order to share the experience. -kelly
If you are interested in supporting PRC's earthquake relief, Free for Life International, has set a special disaster relief fund: www.freeforlifeintl.org/donate/help-nepal-earth-quake-victims or visit peacerehab.org.
150 of the poorest and most hard-hit families got food to last them twenty to thirty days while they start their rebuilding process.
Tarpaulins were also distributed according to need.
Additional tarpaulins were given to the school and healthpost both of which were damaged.
We just returned from the epicenter area of the second large quake. The PRC team is amazing! These guys are tireless and organized. I may not always know what is going on but they sure do.
They pulled off a flawless distribution where everyone walked away happy which is not always the case. People in desperate situations can sometimes act desperately. We have heard about aid trucks getting looted or sometimes fighting because people felt the distribution was unfairly divided.
Before we left PRC coordinated with local leaders in the area we were going. They got a general assessment of people and needs. Once there representatives from each neighborhood or community have a more detailed account of their people and needs.
The food and tarps were then separated out for each community. Then those communities divided it amongst themselves. This gave them a say so, or power to be part of the process not just recipients of a handout. They all agreed to serve the most needy first.
Like I said, an amazing team!
Yesterday we left Kathmandu. Our truck was loaded with three tons of food, tarpaulins and medical supplies. Two of us fit in the front with the driver. The rest ride on top of the supplies.
The mountain roads are definitely not for the timid. They got rid of all those pesky things like gaurdrails.
About an hour or two from our destination, the wind kicked up and the rain began. The wind was staying to swirl and even shake the truck. The driver reluctantly kept going.
I was in the front seat. All of us in the front were wide-eyed when we turned a corner and saw there had been a very very recent landslide. Some of the rocks on the road were as big as a motorcycle. We were all eyeing the cliff on side us for any sign of movement.
All of a sudden dirt and small rocks started coming down the cliff at our front bumper. The truck driver punched it and we got outta there. We don't know how big that slide became and we didn't go back to find out. We stopped in the next village that wasn't directly under a cliff.
We stopped in front of a house and got out of the truck. We decided to spend the night. The woman of the house where we stopped greeted us (image). She then cooked us dinner and had tea ready for us in the morning. Amazing!
The road we turned on this morning makes that last one look like interstate 35. So our adventure continues.
In a couple of hours we will be on the road. We are headed to the district at the epicenter of the second large quake. That area has been cutoff due too numerous landslides. We are delivering food and tarpaulin for shelters.
I am told that this area has a high population of Christians and of the untouchable cast.
My time in Nepal has been focused on earthquake disaster relief. But now I want to take a moment to remember what PRC does on a daily basis.
This evening PRC's founder Shanta introduced me to an amazing young girl staying here at the rescue center. She shared her story with me.
I am not going to use her name but I can tell you she is fifteen years old. She was born in a small village. At six years old her father left with a different woman. She was left with her mother. Her mother has disabilities which prevented her from understanding how to care for the girl properly.
When she was seven her uncle gave her to be a house servant in Kathmandu. She did get paid a nominal amount for her work, which the uncle would steal.
It wasn't long before the man of the house started abusing her. Eventually he started sharing her with others as well. This went on for about seven years.
Then she learned that she was going to be sold and sent to the brothels in India. She ran.
She was caught by a police officer. The officer abused her and let her go.
She sought refugee where a friend was staying. Abuse started there too. She ran again, and again was caught by the police.
This experience with the police was different. The police officer told her he was going to get her someplace safe. He got her to PRC.
She has been here about three weeks now. She has a long hard road ahead but you can already see she is beginning to flourish. She said before she was even considering suicide. Now she said she sees there is a possible future.
I couldn't believe how boldly she shared her story with me. What strength!
No matter how many of these stories I'm told, it never gets easier to listen. I can only imagine the emotional toll on the staff workers here dealing with this each and every day.
Thankfully they also hear, and share in, the successes of changes lives as well!
