Flood Relief Update
Monday, August 25, 2014
I haven’t had time to write up a proper blog so I’m just writing up some quick notes and an update with what’s going on with our flood relief here in Surkhet. We’re mobilizing as best we can and it feels like every minute is pretty intense around here. There’s some immediate work to do as well as some long term rebuilding to think about.
- 7:30 a.m. Ravi’s new night nurse, Preeti called. She is totally on board for the job. We found him a night nurse!!! Gave her Patty’s number so they can all meet and she's starting tomorrow.
- 8:00 a.m. Meeting at Women and Children’s Welfare office. BlinkNow is supporting 20+ pregnant women who are due to deliver any day now at a local shelter.
- 9:00 a.m. Meeting at Chief District Office to get support to families outside the main city whose entire villages have been swept away. They are all camped out in the jungle waiting waiting and waiting. It makes me sad and angry.
- Really good chat with the head of Save the Children. He got us on an email chain with Red Cross so we can all have the same info.
- Talked to our DIG who is introducing me to the head of UNDP arriving from Kathmandu to help with flood relief. We’re looking into the case of an 8 year old orphan girl whose parents got swept away by the floods. There are lots of orphans. Where do they go? We have 55 kids at our house right now.
- 10:00 a.m. Came home to check on carpenters, who are making more beds, bookshelves, desks for the influx of children we’ve had. Endless projects.
- Ate breakfast with Tope and said bye to Sunita who has been visiting.
- 10:30 a.m. Relocated 3 more families who lost everything in the floods. We’re moving our refugees into rentals until permanent relocation is decided. Every family is getting blankets, bedding, mattresses, pots, pans, dishes, a stove, clothes, soap, shampoo, and one month’s food supply.
- 11:00 a.m. School is fully in session. One of our 4th graders got put in jail last night for stealing. Trying to get to the bottom of that.
- Checked on the medical team finishing up typhoid vaccinations. The ladies from the women’s center were measuring the kids who lost everything in the floods for new uniforms.
- School lunch was just starting.
- 12:00 p.m. Went to the women’s center which has been closed last week because so many of them lost their homes… pep talk, making clothes for flood victims, we sat in a circle and talked and ate lunch. Anna Felton our women’s center fellow is here and she is working on the store front design and making everything more efficient. My life got a whole lot easier with her here. We’re still looking into hiring a full-time counselor and we're down to two candidates. We’re also negotiating with our landlord on how to get a little more space upstairs for production.
- Having a women’s center with 20+ women on staff comes in handy when doing flood relief. Fastest service around. They are working their tails off to get clothes made for victims, and we’re trying to keep spirits up.
- 2:30 p.m. I came home and signed LOI’s for our solar project and structural engineering happening at the new campus. Went over finances with our accounting team.
- 3:00 p.m. Ravi's three sisters came to visit. They're 2, 4, and 11 and they jumped in a jeep entirely on their own (hitchhiking) so they could come to see us. They were sad Ravi wasn't home from the hospital but happy to be cuddled and loved.
- 4:00 p.m. After school I took the boys shopping because they are all growing so fast and have been wearing the same ratty t-shirts every day. They also don't have any pants. I let them pick out lots of clothes for flood victims. We carried home more mattresses and trashcans because it feels like many of our trashcans disappeared during the floods.
- 6:00 p.m. More families came to pick up relief kits. We’re getting them set up in temporary housing and make sure they have what they need to be on their own two feet again.
- 7:30 p.m. Dinner with Nena, Kelly, and Anna. Love these girls. Laughed and ate gummy bears. The boys gave us a fashion show with their new outfits. Naveen Tiwari bought skinny jeans.
- 8:00 p.m. Family satsang was awesome. Our family word of the month is loyalty. We talked about it. I also promised the kids I would throw them a dance party for Teej. They've been amazing little relief workers and helpers. I'm proud of my offspring. I asked them who they wanted to invite to the party and they said, “just us!” So sweet.
- 9:00 p.m. Sat around talking with the staff and tried to put a plan together for tomorrow.
- 9:30 p.m. Bedtime. Every time I walk into my room after everything I’ve been seeing, it feels way too nice and I feel so grateful to have a safe amazing loving place to call home. When I’m inside the gates here I feel so content and almost sheltered from the outside world. Just my kids playing legos and swimming in their new kiddie pools, my amazing team of aunties, uncles and volunteers, and lots of love. It’s important to remember to soak in all the goodness that is here. I want to bottle this up and share it with the world and all it's children. I see Namraj is sound asleep in my bed. He snuck in for the third night in a row. I think he’s been missing his mama. Then Santosh came and asked if he could sleep in my room. He fractured his foot last week and has been in a cast on crutches. He never asks to sleep with me that so of course I said yes and before I knew it five other boys were there with their mattresses on my floor. It felt like the scene from the Sound of Music when the thunderstorm came.
***My room isn't this clean because of me. I'm a tornado. Usually the aunties sneak in and get my laundry off the floor.
Other notes:
For some reason or another I started drinking Coca Cola through all of this craziness. I haven’t been a soda drinker my entire life but at the hospital the kitchen was infected with cockroaches and I have this theory that if you drink a coke every time after you eat, it kills everything in your stomach. Now it’s turned into a really bad habit. I already have lots of teeth problems so I better stop.
Also, I’ve been cursing a lot. Another bad habit I need to break ASAP. Don’t want to let loose on a government official.
Kelly, Nena, and I all had the same reaction to the flood. We started giving all our clothes away. All of them. I’m living in a gray t-shirt because when you see people who have nothing, it seems silly that you have 15 outfits sitting on your shelves. This stuff is turning me into even more a minimalist than I already was. Didn’t know that was possible.
On Thursday Patty came to replace me at the hospital. She is amazing. Ravi is doing good but as you know the road to recovery is a long one. He still hasn't gained any weight. We’re really grateful to have support to help with his long term care. As you know we are all totally in love with this baby. Thanks to all the volunteers who have stepped up to help so I could come to Surkhet and be where I need to be right now. That boy has a big global family and lots of mommies, aunties, and uncles. We are grateful.
None of these relief efforts would be happening with out YOUR support. We’re putting every penny of your donations into REAL LIFE change and action over here on the ground as best we can. Phase 1 is immediate support to victims and Phase 2 will be rebuilding. We’ll be keeping you posted every step of the way. Please know how thankful we are. You are all amazing!