This is a guest post by Meadow Coldon, an avid traveler who has worked at Curtin for the past year as an associate archaeologist.
Manju and Ramesh
Manju Puri and Ramesh Giri are newlyweds living in Kathmandu, Nepal. Saturday, their lives were changed forever by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that destroyed their home and crumbled their city. I met the Puri family three years ago, while traveling, and they warmly welcomed me into their home. I got to know their family, and we seemed to adopt one another. Making a living has always been a struggle for them. Manju’s mother, father, younger sister, sister-in-law and niece all live in a small village in the district of Sindhupalchok. Brothers Rupak and Dipak live in Dubai and work to send money home to their family. Manju and Ramesh live in Ghaurighat, a suburb of Kathmandu and also work various jobs to add funds to the communal supply of money. For a family who by no means lives in excess, losing everything they did have is difficult to imagine.
Meadow and Manju
I have set up a Crowdrise fundraiser to raise funds for the Puri family. If you are interested in supporting this family directly, and helping them recover from this vast tragedy, donations of any kind are encouraged.
On my most recent visit to Nepal, I had a conversation with Manju about the different ways Nepalis and Americans view money. While Americans tend to feel that they personally own all that they have earned and worked for, Nepalis earn and work for the community as a whole. They don’t own their money, but instead take what they need when they need it, and share it to everyone in need around them. By giving directly to this family, I know that it will benefit an entire community of people who have also been left with nothing.
Your generosity is much appreciated!