NEAR WEST KELOWNA – They’re visuals Patti Hoy says she won’t ever forget: the sadness on the faces of people in Nepal impacted by the recent devastating earthquakes. Hoy recently returned from a trip to Nepal as part of her humanitarian work with Kelowna charity Hope for the Nations.
“We were getting temporary schools set up because so many of the schools had been damaged,” says Hoy. “We were involved in one of the remote areas to actually start getting some of those put back together and that was very rewarding to see that happen.”
The April 25 and May 12 quakes killed more than 8,700 people and damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in Nepal, including old temples, palaces and other historical structures that are popular with tourists.
Despite the devastation, many of the cultural heritage sites reopened in Nepal earlier this month. Aside from encouraging people to help with recovery and rebuilding efforts through donations or volunteer work, Hoy says the Nepali people want to promote tourism.
“It’s one of their main industries and they’re really concerned about not having that revenue stream anymore,” says Hoy. “So if we can keep people saying ‘Hey I’m still going to plan that trip, I still want to see Everest base camp and enjoy what’s still there.’”
International UBCO student Gyan Strestha says up until last week, his family was residing in a tent in Kathmandu and living off of the bare essentials.
“My family has moved from the tent to their house but they are still afraid to go upstairs because it’s shaking and my house is cracked so they don’t want to go upstairs,” says Strestha.
They’re back in their home but he says his family is far from recovery.
“They are living with fear not knowing what will happen,” he says.
But there is hope. While Hoy is back in Canada, a group of volunteers continues to build temporary schools in Nepal.
“The biggest thing was the tin roofing, so a lot of the schools and a lot of the shelters were still made of tarps some bamboo matting, things like that so these schools will probably have to last upwards of two years,” says Hoy.
She isn’t back home for long; Hoy plans to return to Nepal to volunteer and sightsee this fall.
~ with files from the Canadian Press
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