In view of the urgency of the Nepal disaster, and because one of our writer friends is in great need, I've decided to publish regular updates from Vinaya every Saturday.
Saturday editions of Your Turn will feature Vinaya's updates on the Nepal disaster. This Saturday publication is likely to continue for some time. It is written by a long-time writer friend in Nepal, Vinaya, who is presently trying to get his life in order again after the recent major earthquake in Nepal, followed by many aftershocks, a major one of which occurred today. |
Like all invited authors on this page, Vinaya will receive CAD $2.00 for his contribution, and the comment he chooses as being the best each time will earn its contributor CAD $1.00. That commenter is notified privately by email. Payout is at CAD $8.00. This might seem paltry to us in North America and Europe, but remember, it is worth much more in Nepal and goes much further than it does here, to help clothe and feed families.
One NPR =0.0098 US Dollar ( the currency is the Nepalese Rupee)
This is a way of ensuring ongoing active donations to Vinaya, who will be able to use this money to buy life-sustaining food for his family and the rest of his community suffering through this time in Nepal. Like many others, Vinaya's family has been displaced by this devastating event, and is still not reunited.
If you wish to donate directly to Vinaya and his family, plus allow him to buy food for the wider community, you can do so directly through PayPal. Every dollar counts. Seriously.
His PayPal account address is [email protected].
Here’s Vinaya
My wife and I sometimes disagree.
Whenever my wife says I am very selfish, I try to oppose her saying I care about my wife, my father and mother, my brother and sisters, my nephew and niece, and my brother-in-law. She laughs. “You see, you only care about your family. You don’t give a darn about your extended family. You don’t care about society.” “Remember, a couple of months ago I donated a sewing machine to a poor girl, I took a sick woman to the doctor, and I am also trying to help a man get a job in a foreign country.” |
I continue to contradict my wife. “I run errands for my aunt and cousins," I protest. My wife does not buy my reasons. “You help your cousins and aunt because you don’t want to hurt your parents, you help your tenant farmers because you want them to be bonded to your farm.”
I can’t win this with my wife. However, my beliefs were shaken when an earthquake of 7.9 on the Richter scale struck the country. The first thought that came to my mind was whether my mother was safe. Then I began to think about my father, who had a cardiac arrest a few days ago, my brother and sisters, my sister’s husband and my nephew and niece.
On that fateful day, I was in the marketplace with my wife. It was my mother’s birthday and we were looking for a nice birthday present for her. When the earth shook vehemently for two minutes, I hugged my wife tightly.
Telephone and electricity lines went dead. I was desperate to know about my family. Thankfully, GPRS was working. When I checked the internet and read the 18th-century tower fell in Kathmandu, I began to worry about my father and siblings in Kathmandu.
When we left mother in the farmhouse, she was in the attic storing seeds. My farmhouse was 40 years old mud and wood house. I was praying for her safety.
A couple of hours later, I was finally able to call my brother-in-law. “Your sister is safe, the children are safe,” he said. “However, I don’t know about the father and siblings. Kathmandu is devastated, most of the 17th and 18th centuries monuments have fallen.”
In the marketplace, people were talking about the devastations in Kathmandu. They said houses have fallen, hundreds of people are dead, and thousands of people are missing. There was no news from my father and siblings. I was worried.
Three hours after the earthquake, I was able to text my brother. He called back. “We are safe, our house is intact,” he said. I returned to my farmhouse in the evening. My mother was fine.
The geologists say aftershocks could continue for months, there may be even a bigger earthquake. In hard times like this, knowing that your family is safe is a great comfort.
May 14, 2015: Upside down
When we were trying to rebuild our lives, once again we are back to basics. Our restaurant in Kathmandu has been completely destroyed and our city home and farmhouse have been damaged badly.
We are trying to sell some parts of our farmland in order to rebuild homes and lives. However, in hard times like this, nobody is interested in buying properties.
My father and younger sister have been moved to our farm. Thanks to my friends in Europe and America. In a few days, my brother, sister and sister’s family will join us here. Our farm is comparatively safe. We have open space to run whenever there is an earthquake. Even if we get buried, at least the family will be together.