2 years ago today Nepal was struck by a devastating earthquake. Our Nepal supplier, Rupan Giri has given his account on how the earthquake affected Nepal, and why it’s so important to continue travelling to the country.
“The ground started shaking at around 11:58 am and it shook for about 72 seconds. At first everybody was confused as to what was going on but as soon as they realised that it was an earthquake everyone ran out to open spaces. Most of the people of Kathmandu and surrounding areas were living outdoors for more than a week, some even stayed out for almost a month. A lot of lives were lost and so were many heritage monuments. This was one calamity that brought the people of Nepal together and a campaign started that was named “ We will rise again”. People started helping whoever they could, wherever they could, however they could and in anyway that they could. People started rebuilding slowly but they were scared that if they built new structures then they would be destroyed again.
The earthquake affected everybody and it destroyed the dreams of many. People could not run their business, the schools were shut for more than a month as the aftershocks were not receding. Tourism industry almost came to a standstill as most countries had issued travel advisory to Nepal. Most of the foreigners we saw at that time were volunteers from different organisations who had come to help. There are volunteers who are still coming to Nepal to help rebuild school buildings at places where it has taken time for help to reach. People come and teach courses like English at these schools, and some come and help children to get out of the trauma that has been caused.
The situation has got back to normal but the earthquake took a lot from the people of Nepal. It gave the gift of standing by each other in times of need, but Nepal still needs a lot of help from the world community to get back on track. Lots of the infrastructure has been destroyed during the earthquake. The country is in the slow process of rebuilding and we know that it is going to take time but WE WILL RISE AGAIN”.
If you are interested in visiting Nepal you can see a full list of our tours here.
