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Dear all,
I wanted to update you all on a relief effort that was spearheaded by Bigya Khadka (Vice President of
GSTLNC) and Nirmal Thapa (Nepal) with help of several people here in St. Louis and volunteers in Nepal.
We did not spent any money that was raised by GSTLNC for this effort. Members of volunteer team in
Nepal raised the money that was needed for the project.
Bigya Khadka contacted Ravi KC, the owner of a Chips factory and a few other people (pratikshya Silwal,
Bijay Poudyal and Kumar Khanal) in Nepal and was able to secure 46 cases of Potato sticks chips from
the factory located in Mulpani, Nepal. The packets were handed to Nirmal Thapa by Ananta.
Nirmal Thapa with Ananta at the Mulpani factory
Along with the chips, Nirmal and his team (Alka Basnet, Bibek Uprety, Dalima Rawal) created relief
packets with other materials by using the funds collected by Alka Basnet. Each of the 50 relief packets
included lentils, salt, Lifebouy soaps, OK soaps, oil, chiura, biscuit, turmeric, gram and chocolates. We
also had a box of jeevan jal and Sarvottam pitho for the elderly,
Rojina, Alka and Dalima coordinating relief efforts in Bhaktapur
Alka handing Sarvottam pitho to an elderly at Khadk a gaun, Bhak tapur
Residents of Khadka gaun after receiving their relief packets
Starting from left (Two local coordinators, Rojina, Driver dai, Bibek, Nirmal, Dalima and Alka)
I on behalf of GSTLNC would like to thank Bigya Khadka, Nirmal Thapa and his team for their hard work.
Bharat Kandel
Nirmal’s account of the event: (Note: While the team distributed relief packets, the email is focused on
chips as that was the only product managed through Bigya Khadka and the GSTLNC team)
----- Forwarded Message ----From: Nirmal Thapa <nirmalthapa2@gmail.com>
To: Bharat Kandel <bplk819@yahoo.com>; Kamal Thapa <kamal.thapa@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 9, 2015 11:16 PM
Subject: Bhaktapur relief efforts (short summary)
We went to Bhaktapur area (Gamche village, Tamang tole, Khadka tole) on May 9, 2015 (Saturday) to
distribute earthquake relief materials. Our team members included Alka, Bibek, Dalima and Nirmal in
coordination with Rojina, a Bhaktapur resident.
First, we went to Gamche village. We met and talked with Sanjay Mishra and Gopi Neupane. Sanjay is a Red
Cross volunteer/teacher in that area. He was our local contact in that region and we got most of the information
on the impact of the earthquake in the region from him. We conveyed to him and Gopi that our primary goal
was to provide relief packets to those who needed them urgently.
Upon talking with Sanjay, we learned that there are 24 houses in Tamang tole and more than 90 percent of
houses in that region were damaged by the earthquake. Thus, we decided to primarily focus on giving relief
materials in Tamang tole. At Gamche, we noticed houses that have been damaged by the earthquake and also
talked with some local residents about the earthquake's impact in that region. Before heading north to Tamang
tole, we collected names of families in Gamche village that urgently needed supplies and provided 12 relief
packets there. We also distributed chips and candy to children. Kids would gather around our van and we
happily handed chips to each one of them. They were very delighted to receive the chips.
Sanjay guided us to Tamang tole and we initially collected names of the 24 families/houses in that area. We
handed the packets to individual families and distributed chips and candy to children. At Tamang tole, besides
giving chips to each child, we also handed 3 packets of chips to each family. We also met 3 very old individuals
in Tamang tole. On our way back, we stopped at Khadka gaun and distributed 10 relief packets after collecting
the names of the families that urgently needed them. We left 5 relief packets and 4 cases of chips with Sanjay
to distribute it to the families who need them.
Thank you Bigya and the GSTLNC team for your assistance. You brought smiles to many children and we as
volunteers were very happy to be part of this meaningful and important contribution.
Nirmal Thapa
As of May 10, 2015, out of the collected 46 packets of chips, we have distributed them as follows:
Ashish Pradhan for Dhading (5 cases)
Muna K.C for relief efforts through Leo Club Bagmati (5 cases)
Tila Thapa for relief efforts through Sai Kendra Bhimsengola (7 cases) focused on Sindupalchowk area
Nirmal Thapa for relief efforts in Bhaktapur (Gamche village, Tamang tole and Khadka gaun) (10 cases)
Keshab for relief efforts in Chautara, Sindupalchowk (3 cases)
1 case = 60 packets
Remaining cases will be distributed in coming days based on requirements. A few packets have already been
requested by various people and organizations but have not been collected.