When their expeditions were aborted by the first major earthquake, a number of mountaineers decided to stay in Nepal and help with aid work. Here two of them describe the aftermath of the second earthquake. It hit just 42 miles west of Namche Bazaar, the last big town on the walking trail to Everest.
Adrian Hayes is a professional adventurer, speaker, business coach and a Nepalese speaking former Gurkha officer in the British Army.
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AH: Two weeks on from the first earthquake the saturation news coverage had faded in favour of Royal births and General Elections. The search and rescue had been wound down. Thamel was quiet. Then yesterday a second major quake of 7.4 magnitude hit. What more can the country can face?
I was on Makalu when the first quake hit. The expedition couldn't continue and I had skills, circumstances and equipment that could be better used to help the country instead. I speak Nepalese, have an excellent Thuraya satellite communication system, am acclimatised to 6000m, self-sufficient in food and shelter, and a former EMT.
I spent the next week trekking down the Makalu-Barun valley to do whatever small help I could. Allowing Nepalese to contact families on my Thuraya XT, helping missing foreigners, reporting back in pictures and videos to raise funds.
Following this new quake, I have heard today but need to confirm that 90% of the buildings have been damaged in the Makalu region. As it was a fair way east of the epicentre the Makalu region wasn’t badly hit last time.
As with other natural disasters there are three primary components of the relief effort: Search and Rescue, the immediate needs, and the medium-to-longer term rebuild.
The immediate needs now are: shelter (the monsoon is fast approaching and hundreds or thousands of people do not have a roof over their heads), food, and epidemic prevention and treatment. The medium-to-longer term needs are, of course, extensive rebuilds.
The biggest problem is the terrain of Nepal and the countless landslides. Remote settlements are cut off until new trails are forged. Natural disasters are terrible anywhere but it's hard to imagine a country where the circumstances are more challenging than Nepal.
And on top of it all is the complete non-organisation of the Nepalese Government. There is no emergency committee as in the UK’s COBRA, no central command structure, no sign of any organised response to the tragedy, all of which makes the aid agencies even more valuable.
A number of climbers have stayed on after their aborted expeditions to help the aid effort. If we can be the reconnaissance to getting shelter, food and money into some of the most remotest settlements then it is a very worthwhile compensation for a country all of us love.
Heather Geluk is a mountaineer and management consultant. She has climbed extensively in Nepal.
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HG: I had finally stopped pausing every time I thought I'd felt the ground move or heard a rumble. Then the second earthquake ripped through the heart of the country: the Khumbu. It also violently jolted the morale of a people who had just begun to start life in the 'new normal' - amidst the rubble and dust.
I passed a family outside a dusty pile of bricks that was once their home. A pregnant mother under a tarp shelter with a toddler running around in the dirt. Her husband was killed in the earthquake. In the middle lay one mattress-less bed salvaged from the house. That and a dented kettle are everything she now owns. There have been hundreds of still births and miscarriages. But the biggest fear is more aftershocks.
If there was ever a time to ‘give back’ to a country that has been so incredibly good to me, it's now. So I've made the decision not to return home but to stay in Kathmandu and do what I can to help.
The numbers have risen to over 8,000 people dead, double that injured, thousands left homeless and even more buildings uninhabitable. Each day brings us closer to the monsoon and months of torrential rain. Torrential rain that will bring with it flooding, landslides and disease.
I believe the most effective way to help is to send money through the relief funds that have been set up. Then it can be dispersed in the most transparent and practical ways to those that need it most.
I’ve been working with an incredible fund - Help Sherpas Help Nepal. They help people and communities in some of the most disparate parts of the country. Incredible, dedicated and selfless efforts from volunteers bringing relief to those who had given up hope.
Depending on the aid agency, the funds go toward a myriad of things. Feeding those desperate families in the remote hills, supporting families in Kathmandu ‘tent cities’, tending those lined up outside hospitals, buying tarps, tents. Every little bit helps. It’s so easy to make a difference here.
Nepal is a resilient nation. The country seems to ‘bounce back’ from one disaster after another. Last year's tragedy on Everest, the storms in the Annapurna region in the fall, the Turkish airlines disaster...
The response from the international community has been overwhelming – but there is so much more to be done. In the face of the ups and downs we must continue to recover and rebuild.
READ: More about Adrian Hayes on his website and more about Heather Geluk on her blog.
READ: about the BMC Nepal Auction auction. Adventurers, celebrities, sportspeople, businesses and the general public are providing experience pledges, memorabilia and items to auction.
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