Day 4: After the quake

Yesterday, during the entire day there were no tremors but during the evening around 7.30, we had another one, quite short but powerful. I didn't feel any shocks during the night, so hopefully we won't get more. Still no power though more neighborhoods are starting to get it. I was interviewed and broadcasted by Radio 1 and Klara in Belgium.

We go back to the meeting, which has grown exponentially. From focusing on one community, they are trying to coordinate with other similar groups of volunteers, a team is taking out tarp for people to sleep under, they are building a webpage to make an inventory of material and try to appeal volunteers (though others are popping up like here). A Facebook page had been created the day prior for potential volunteers, and got over 26.000 posts in one day, so it was impossible to manage.  

A team of their volunteers went out on mountain bikes to an area close to Bhaktapur, Ranikot, where Shaun is also building a house. They bring back many stories and information. Many houses that weren't made of concrete, collapsed. In places, an entire community of 50 or 80 houses has lost them all. Once it starts raining, they have no shelter, get wet, and sick. If they have injuries, there's infection. Diarrhea is starting to come up. Sometimes live stock was caught under the debris, and is now starting to rot, creating a risk for epidemics. Some of them are journalists documenting, or photographers (here). 

We also sign up to go out tomorrow and help set up tents and dig latrines in a neighborhood just outside of the ring road from Lalitpur. Shaun offers his help and is asked whether he would mind moving bodies at the hospital. Turns out they are bodies and need to be photographed, so they can be identified later...

Our neighborhood group are looking to fund raise (here) and link up with bigger relief organisations and the government. Everybody agrees they should take the lead (and probably the army is still doing the most currently), but everybody is equally skeptical about their capacities. One participant shares that they'd held a protest in front of a government building to demand the government be more active and they got forcible removed by the police. He had been dragged by his hair for 20 meters... 

International help should be arriving. Cluster meetings between IO and NGOs are taking place, the sky is buzzing with planes carrying in supplies. The arrival from the BFAST team from Belgium has been postponed two nights in a row, because so many planes are trying to enter with help. If you check Relief Web, it is buzzing with Countries donating and things arriving, but the only international airport can only accommodate so much.  

And best news of all, once we came back from the meeting, the power as back on in the house! Never been so glad to be able to cook with normal light, pump up water so we can flush toilets and take showers, and recharge everything that had been running dangerously low. We didn't feel any shocks during the day, so we're starting to breath more easily. The Dutch volunteers are starting to trickle out, two have left, two more will leave Wednesday. Also, the neighbors are dwindling, last night, there were only six coming.