Roofing Material for 54 More Families

I was delighted that we were able to help 54 families with roofing material in the totally devastated village of Irku, Nepal. After losing their homes during the earthquake and having no shelter from the elements, having a roof over their heads is one of the most urgent needs these days for the people in Irku.

The little village in Irku was totally devastated by the earthquake. When I arrived in this village people were struggling to clear the debris and build temporary shelters using old material recovered from the debris. The whole village had become a pile of rubble. The village head, an elderly gentleman, politely urged me to help them with roofing material so that they can make shelters to live in.

After traveling three and one-half hours from the capital city Kathmandu, I arrived in Irku with my assistant monk Soma, Sanje, who is a school teacher, my translator and Deepak who is the village representative. It was a 12-hour journey to visit this village and return back to Kathmandu. Road conditions were not good and I personally had to be careful with the food that I ate or water I drank because of hygienic concerns.

This was my first visit to the Irku region and, as always, it is heart breaking to see the struggle of the people who have lost everything and the lack of coordinated efforts to take care of their urgent needs. After spending an hour touring the village and speaking to the families, I immediately made arrangements to provide them with roofing material and rebuild one of the school buildings so that the children will have a safe place to study.

Even though travel to the village was exhausting and difficult, at the end of the day when I knew our visit has made a difference in the lives of 54 families I could only smile and feel gratitude to everybody who is helping me to help the victims of this devastating earthquake in Nepal. Thank you.