EARTHQUAKE RELIEF

The April 25 earthquake impacted our whole community immensely, and we are still recovering. At LVA, the biggest impact was that it destroyed our dormitory, so we built three small houses to put a roof over the heads of our kids. Our kids were also out of school for several weeks. Losing the dorm expedited our need to move ASAP to our new property. Many of our students’ families and our didis’ families also lost their homes. Perhaps the biggest impact on our community was the psychological effects: our kids very vividly remember that moment at 11:56am on April 25, as well as the hundreds of earthquakes that followed, and many are still afraid today. However, the family community at LVA really eases these fears, especially with older kids stepping up to remind the younger kids that they’re safe and secure.

Starting on April 25 we ran a series of earthquake relief projects in our community, including immediate relief aid and 3 helicopter rescue trips to remote villages. We formed the CYF Collective with other organizations and activists on the ground, receiving coverage from news sources as big as BBC India. We ran 91 village trips, directly aiding thousands of people. Right now we are working on rebuilding four government schools that were destroyed. These are in really remote villages where the government has not provided any relief aid, even so many months later. We also rebuilt 2 government schools: the Milan Primary School in Chyasingkharka, Kavrepalanchowk and the Shree Bagh Bairav School in Kaleswor, Lalitpur. We are continuing to partner with these schools today.