Appalachian to help people of Nepal

Posted April 30, 2015 at 6:41 p.m.

BOONE—Offices and programs at Appalachian State University are partnering with the local non-profit agency Wine to Water to help provide clean water and additional emergency supplies to earthquake victims in Nepal.

Wine to Water will initially send 300 filtration systems that can provide immediate clean water for up to 5,000 people. The filters, if maintained properly, can last for up to 10 years.

Appalachian’s Office of International Education and Development (OIED), in collaboration with The Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Department, Center for Appalachian Studies, Office of Appalachian and Community Together (ACT), Department of Sustainable Development, and the Department of Technology and Environmental Design, is spearheading the local fundraising effort.

The best way to help the affected people is with financial donations through Wine to Water’s website (http://www.winetowater.org). In addition, Appalachian’s ACT Office (Appalachian and the Community Together) is posting information at http://act.appstate.edu/nepal about other area fundraising efforts to benefit the people of Nepal. Information about additional fundraising ideas to help the earthquake victims in Nepal should be sent to Kate Johnson at johnsonka1@appstate.edu.

The Center for Appalachian Studies will sponsor a Mountain Music Concert Benefit for Nepal Earthquake Victims Wednesday, May 13, from 7:30–9:30 p.m. at Boone Saloon. A $5 donation at the door will be collected. This is will be a family friendly event and all are welcome.

There are three students from Nepal attending Appalachian and one faculty member from Nepal who teaches in the Department of Sustainable Development.

The massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Nepal April 25 shattered hundreds of thousands of people’s lives. The earthquake caused numerous buildings to collapse and made some roads impassable.

Survivors have little refuge from continued aftershocks and need immediate food, water and shelter. Nepal will continue to face significant challenges for many months to come.

“Our immediate family members are safe, but they lost all of their property, houses and everything they had. They are living outside without food and shelter. Our family house where we all grew up has been reduced to zero,” said Assistant Professor Dinesh Paudel. “The community where we all lived has been reduced to zero. Several people that we know died. The school that I built several years ago is rubble. My sister is a nurse, and she was telling me that the cases of pneumonia and diarrhea are growing dramatically, but no one is paying attention to these problems right now. It is unbelievable and unbearable what has happened in our country.”

The students from Nepal who are attending Appalachian also expressed concern for their communities. “We are extremely concerned about the fate of communities in towns and villages in rural areas closer to the earthquake’s epicenter,” said graduate student Suresh Niraula. “Roads have been damaged or blocked by landslides preventing help from reaching rural areas and communication lines are down making it difficult to get accurate information.”

Freshman Shrisha Pradhananga said, “People will need considerable support for a long while including food, water, medical care and emergency shelter.”

More than 5,000 people are reported to have been killed in the earthquake in what is considered to be the worst quake to hit the region in 80 years.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.