THE NEPAL EARTHQUAKE OF 2015
On Saturday, April 25th 2015 at 11:56am a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. The quake’s epicenter was located in the Gorkha District less than 50 miles from capital city of Kathmandu. The earthquake killed 9,000 people, injured over 23,000 and caused an estimated $10 billion in damages. At least 9 million people have been effected and over 2 million left homeless with families displaced. My Name is Alekz Londos, this is a story of my experience in Nepal during the aftermath of this earthquake, please note that I am writing to you from the perspective of a first responder or humanitarian not as a journalist compiling information or documenting the crisis from multiple angles.
About me; I have lived in Santa Cruz most of my life, I am 34. I love traveling, camping and adventures. I am constantly involving myself in ways to help humanity and our environment. As a freelance photojournalist I have covered stories that I feel can help the greatest amount of people or stories that will benefit our environment by documenting historic events; cleanup projects, political events, protest, riots, lightning storms, wildfires, floods, landslides, snowstorms and car accidents. I’ve also been tornado chasing, covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, been through three hurricanes; Gustav in 2008, Isaac in 2013, Sandy in 2013, and I was in Ghana during the recent Ebola Outbreak. I have seen destruction, death, mass suffering and failed international humanitarian response (over and over again) so I got involved in emergency services to help make a difference. I spent 4 years studying at Cabrillo College mainly in the medical field, environmental sciences and journalism. I took all of the Red Cross classes where I was once a disaster relief volunteer. After that I completed the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) course at the Felton Fire Station. CERT was established through the FEMA branch of the US Government for mass casualty scenarios. I now have over ten years’ experience as a photojournalist while providing relief aid in several countries. I adapted and transitioned with the direction of our world and now consider myself a hybrid photojournalist, environmentalist, humanitarian and activist. Last year I started my own international company called Advanced Disaster Relief. I have since been networking with aid organizations and recently returned from my latest self-deployed mission in Nepal.
I left the U.S and networked with Ecopolitan and Everest Learning Academy (ELA) both who are very well-known and respectable nonprofits in Nepal. We met in Kathmandu, together developed a plan and left on an all-day four wheel drive expedition into the earthquake epicenter. As we drove we had to repeatedly stop, clear rocks and repair the roads as part of our journey. We assessed the damage and documented the demolished schools that Ecopolitan had built to help eliminate the increasing child trafficking in Nepal. At that time it had been 14 days since the earthquake. The monsoon season was expected to begin within the next three weeks. The villages in this entire region would become inaccessible from landslides and washed out roads. The weather conditions were becoming unpredictable, would quickly change and deteriorate without notice. It was very important to get my supplies into the area immediately. I made the decision to stay in the earthquake epicenter and volunteer by myself for the next month. I had chosen to stay the village of Apun. It is located 120 miles (by road) from Kathmandu in the far northwestern region of the Gorkha District. It is in the Himalayan foothills at an elevation of 7,900 feet, though still within the epicenter. Nearly all of the 69 houses in were completely destroyed and crumbled piles of dried dirt and rocks. It was challenging to communicate with the villagers since so few spoke little English. Apun is a very poor community and had received the least amount of help from government and outside sources.
My goal in Nepal was to treat urgent medical injuries, distribute supplies, address safety concerns, and help with debris cleanup as well as the deconstruction and removal of damaged homes. I would also help assemble storm proof tents in place of temporary homes and schools. All of this was in efforts to better prepare them for monsoon season and move forward with their lives. I often ventured out on medical mission hikes every though always stayed within the same seven villages. They had never had electricity until 2012 when they set up a hydroelectric system though it was completely down since the earthquake because of down power lines and safety concerns. There was no electricity anywhere in the region during the entire month I was there. The two small solar panels was our only source of power. An all-day solar powered charge (shared between multiple phones) afforded me 10-15 minutes of use on my smartphone per day.
The people living in the isolated areas needed more support from the international community and hands on help from missionary groups and volunteers. The major news outlets, military and aid was only focused on the larger villages like Barpak that had larger populations and more accessible roads. Another disadvantage of Apun compared to the surrounding villages is that there was no open space to establish a safe shelters without first clearing space in the debris. People were outside exposed to the elements before clearing a space, collecting debris and building a shelter. While I was there a major storm came through with lightning, torrential rain and hurricane force winds. In the middle of the night wind had tore apart many shelters. It set the bar for the construction of stronger shelters and new methods of design prior to monsoon season. Once the monsoon season is over, they will have two months of clear weather to rebuild before winter and begins to snow. This is where winter clothes, warm blankets and permanent shelter will be crucial. Also supplementing their existing food supply with staples would extend it through winter and will prevent a crisis.
I distributed 60 International Survival Kits [ISKs] that consisted of 40 survival and first aid items packaged in a compact durable, waterproof bag. They are designed to save lives, alleviate suffering and bridge the gap after a disaster before additional help and resources arrive. The AVID class at Branciforte Middle School in Santa Cruz, California created letters that were inserted into the ISKs that was distributed. The AVID children were between the ages of 11-13. Their intent was to inspire, help give them hope and strength in their individual recovery.
I eventually ran out the medical supplies that I had brought from America and was unable to continue treating victims. Thanks to my friends and family on Facebook I was contacted by Jay Tamang the owner of the nonprofit "Nepal FREED". Through his nonprofit Jay bought me $700 in medical supplies from a list of items I requested. Everything was purchased in Kathmandu then we collaborated with villagers to transport the supplies to where I was. I was then able to treat additional injuries and medical ailments. My most difficult missions was an all day hike with one of my Nepal guides Hari Raj Gurung. We traveled across a valley into the Lamjung District. Hari helped me distributed humanitarian aid as I treated patients. While we were there we visited Calcall, it is the furthest village north of this district, located in the Himalayan foothills near the Tibetan boarder. The people here have never seen tourist or hikers and never experienced a hot water shower. In this village like many others they were traumatized and still scared though very accepting of the help we offered.
In Apun I treated a 2 year old girl whose left arm had been broken at the wrist, an injury from large rocks that fell on her during the earthquake. When it was time to have the cast removed, her parents couldn't afford the cost of the 1-2 day trip to the overrun hospital in Kathmandu and couldn't risk getting stuck away from their village and other children if monsoon had begun. I accepted the responsibility and spent over an hour carefully removing the child's cast with a hand saw since that was all we had. I first drew two straight lines as a guide, slowly sawing along my drawn lines, while constantly checking the depth and distance of the saw from the child's arm. I continually read the child's comfort through body language and response. The mother and I occasionally allowed her to pull out some of the cotton from the cast herself. We did this to have her involved in what we were doing to prevent agitation. I repeatedly checked circulation, monitored motor function and slowly rehabilitated movement to prevent strain or discomfort. After the cast was removed I wrapped her wrist in a soft flexible wrap for the next two days. I had also been treating an infected on her right arm from the rock injuries. I gained control over the infection after several days by cleaning and re-wrapping the wound. Neither the child nor child's parents understood English. We communicated through hand signs and active expression. This is just one example of the many challenges in this isolated region.
I immersed myself into this close knit community, their culture and daily life of recovery. I made a lot of friends during my stay, some of them are now considered heroes in their village. The people in Nepal were very hospitable and generous, always checking my comfort or making sure that I wasn't left hungry or cold at night. It was difficult seeing them go through so much pain, see them lose much and struggle to start over, living in harsh conditions such as whole families once having a house with a kitchen to all sharing a small single room makeshift shelter and cooking outside over a fire pit on the ground. I treated people with back pain and joint pain from sleeping on the cold, hard floor, wood beds or right on the ground. I watch families separate from loved ones, move away from the villages to seek safety and security elsewhere. The earthquake also caused negative psychological and societal issues throughout the community that I am not as trained to deal with. To suffice I would have needed a team of professional counselors trained in mass casualty crisis intervention and fluent in the Nepalese languages. I tried to be supportive to everyone in this difficult point of their life.
The villagers and I felt almost every aftershock. Some would wake us in the middle of the night while others would stop us from working. We would step back from unstable walls and rocks to wait. The villagers were very concerned about earthquakes and landslides. One family I spoke with had been in their home during the earthquake and were completely buried under their collapsed roof and walls. The father suffered from the worst injuries as he pointed to where they had dug their way out. On May 12th, I was returning back to Apun from a medical mission in Keprung of the Gorkha District when the 7.3 aftershock hit. I could hear the mountains rumbling and feel the ground shaking side to side. It was very vivid and surreal. Across the valley I could see a village called Khinpu, several large clouds of dust start to rise from what I assume were houses collapsing. People were screaming as I began to run towards Apun. I first checked to see if there were new injuries and then headed out with a translator. In Khinpu we surprisingly didn't find any serious injuries. We then went to Olang, the last village in the Gorkha District. I found and treated several injuries, the most serious was a women who had jumped off a 1st story roof of her home.
Tired and mentally exhausted, we all worked hard. The volunteers, the paid workers, and even the children helped out. Additional help finally started to arrive three weeks after the earthquake. First a Military unit walked through the village with a news crew that were of no direct help to the people. In most situations was not the police or soldiers fault, they had good intentions though they take orders in a climatic
hierarchical system. It wasn't until several days later before the Armed Police Force of Nepal started demolition work of the school just above Apun. Next a small health post was set up in Keprung, a village where all 70 plus houses were completely destroyed. This post was a single tent with a doctor, nurse and a volunteer. There were many disadvantage to this typical health post concept. The post was stationary and people who are injured are generally reluctant to hike for miles to get the help they need when dealing with other concerns in their village. It is more effective for a team of medical personnel to travel to the villages, announce their level of training and treat people on the spot. I know this from first-hand experience. Additionally the health post hours of operation were very limiting, since they were only open from 10am to 4pm. I found the post was often closed for unknown reasons. In a disaster zone people are getting injured at all times and they usually need immediate attention. 32 days after the earthquake the second Police unit helped tear down the damaged community center in Apun. This marked the first day that hands on help was provided to the village from an outside source.
I left Apun to visit a recently established staging area located in Kharibot, a village several miles away. This is where supplies where being held and distributed. I met with the Nepal Military Commander who was based there with his soldiers. He introduced me to a professional geologist named D. P. Adhikari Ph. D. The Commander asked me to take Adhikari on a geological tour of Apun. When we arrived I showed him some of the major earthquake fissures and landslides. Before he left I asked Adhikari to speak to the people in Apun about earthquake geology. This helped the villagers understand earthquakes, eased psychological trauma and embedded ideas that would help them stay safe.
I was constantly held to a high level of responsibility. The Principal Dipak Dawady of Shree Prabha Secondary School in Apun approached me and asked me to assemble seven large military tents that they had picked up at the staging area. A week had gone by and the military had never showed up to assemble them as previously planned. Several volunteers and myself set up two of them, thankfully the Military showed up the next day to set up the rest. Getting the children back in school was a priority that everyone recognize.
There were many injuries and long term health risk associated with the dangerous working conditions. Many people were at risk while cleaning through the debris without safty gear like gloves, shoes, safety goggles, breathing masks etc. The most requested item was the custom made Trash Bag-Rain Jackets like a universal form of humanitarian aid. This small, simple and inexpensive item was very effective. I personally dislike plastic, but it helped so many people stay dry while working outside in the rain and deconstructing their damaged home or building their temporary shelters. To offset the pollution or potential environmental impact that it may cause so I found a solution. Before leaving the region I spend 4 hours sorting through the waste and collected 30 pounds of plastic trash from around the villages. Damaged trash bags, candy wrappers, soda bottles, potato chip bags, used rubber medical gloves even some rusty batteries were collected. I packed it all into my black military duffle bag and flew it with me to the US to be recycled it correctly. This was my moral obligation and also set a good example.
Before I flew back to America, the Armed Police Force of Nepal and local villagers had secretly organized a surprise party for me. They all got together one night and sat me down in a special chair. They told me that they didn't have money or gifts to thank me for my volunteer services and humanitarian aid I had provided, so they danced and played music in front of me. As they came up to me, they placed flower garlands and silk scarfs that they call "kartas" around my neck while greeting me. It was an amazing experience. I felt honored with their expressions of gratitude.
My goal of this story is to further inspire more people to get involved in issues affecting our global society today. I also hope that my pictures and stories create a deeper awareness of this disaster while directing additional help and resources towards the long term recovery in Nepal in order to prevent a situation like we witnessed in Haiti. Imagine a collective society that took responsibility for their combined environmental impact and transitioned into sustainable world before it was too late. Collaborated international emergency relief efforts could then focus on victims of natural disasters and not absorbed into man-made disasters or crisis caused by changing weather patterns associated with rapid climate changes connected to global warming.
Special thanks to all the people that donated supplies or contributed towards my mission. I couldn't have done this without a solid network of people that trust in me and support my projects ideas. Please view my website: www.advanceddisasterrelief.com for additional volunteer information and my education background in emergency services.
Live video streaming coming soon twitter.com/alekzlondos
On Saturday, April 25th 2015 at 11:56am a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. The quake’s epicenter was located in the Gorkha District less than 50 miles from capital city of Kathmandu. The earthquake killed 9,000 people, injured over 23,000 and caused an estimated $10 billion in damages. At least 9 million people have been effected and over 2 million left homeless with families displaced. My Name is Alekz Londos, this is a story of my experience in Nepal during the aftermath of this earthquake, please note that I am writing to you from the perspective of a first responder or humanitarian not as a journalist compiling information or documenting the crisis from multiple angles.
About me; I have lived in Santa Cruz most of my life, I am 34. I love traveling, camping and adventures. I am constantly involving myself in ways to help humanity and our environment. As a freelance photojournalist I have covered stories that I feel can help the greatest amount of people or stories that will benefit our environment by documenting historic events; cleanup projects, political events, protest, riots, lightning storms, wildfires, floods, landslides, snowstorms and car accidents. I’ve also been tornado chasing, covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, been through three hurricanes; Gustav in 2008, Isaac in 2013, Sandy in 2013, and I was in Ghana during the recent Ebola Outbreak. I have seen destruction, death, mass suffering and failed international humanitarian response (over and over again) so I got involved in emergency services to help make a difference. I spent 4 years studying at Cabrillo College mainly in the medical field, environmental sciences and journalism. I took all of the Red Cross classes where I was once a disaster relief volunteer. After that I completed the Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) course at the Felton Fire Station. CERT was established through the FEMA branch of the US Government for mass casualty scenarios. I now have over ten years’ experience as a photojournalist while providing relief aid in several countries. I adapted and transitioned with the direction of our world and now consider myself a hybrid photojournalist, environmentalist, humanitarian and activist. Last year I started my own international company called Advanced Disaster Relief. I have since been networking with aid organizations and recently returned from my latest self-deployed mission in Nepal.
I left the U.S and networked with Ecopolitan and Everest Learning Academy (ELA) both who are very well-known and respectable nonprofits in Nepal. We met in Kathmandu, together developed a plan and left on an all-day four wheel drive expedition into the earthquake epicenter. As we drove we had to repeatedly stop, clear rocks and repair the roads as part of our journey. We assessed the damage and documented the demolished schools that Ecopolitan had built to help eliminate the increasing child trafficking in Nepal. At that time it had been 14 days since the earthquake. The monsoon season was expected to begin within the next three weeks. The villages in this entire region would become inaccessible from landslides and washed out roads. The weather conditions were becoming unpredictable, would quickly change and deteriorate without notice. It was very important to get my supplies into the area immediately. I made the decision to stay in the earthquake epicenter and volunteer by myself for the next month. I had chosen to stay the village of Apun. It is located 120 miles (by road) from Kathmandu in the far northwestern region of the Gorkha District. It is in the Himalayan foothills at an elevation of 7,900 feet, though still within the epicenter. Nearly all of the 69 houses in were completely destroyed and crumbled piles of dried dirt and rocks. It was challenging to communicate with the villagers since so few spoke little English. Apun is a very poor community and had received the least amount of help from government and outside sources.
My goal in Nepal was to treat urgent medical injuries, distribute supplies, address safety concerns, and help with debris cleanup as well as the deconstruction and removal of damaged homes. I would also help assemble storm proof tents in place of temporary homes and schools. All of this was in efforts to better prepare them for monsoon season and move forward with their lives. I often ventured out on medical mission hikes every though always stayed within the same seven villages. They had never had electricity until 2012 when they set up a hydroelectric system though it was completely down since the earthquake because of down power lines and safety concerns. There was no electricity anywhere in the region during the entire month I was there. The two small solar panels was our only source of power. An all-day solar powered charge (shared between multiple phones) afforded me 10-15 minutes of use on my smartphone per day.
The people living in the isolated areas needed more support from the international community and hands on help from missionary groups and volunteers. The major news outlets, military and aid was only focused on the larger villages like Barpak that had larger populations and more accessible roads. Another disadvantage of Apun compared to the surrounding villages is that there was no open space to establish a safe shelters without first clearing space in the debris. People were outside exposed to the elements before clearing a space, collecting debris and building a shelter. While I was there a major storm came through with lightning, torrential rain and hurricane force winds. In the middle of the night wind had tore apart many shelters. It set the bar for the construction of stronger shelters and new methods of design prior to monsoon season. Once the monsoon season is over, they will have two months of clear weather to rebuild before winter and begins to snow. This is where winter clothes, warm blankets and permanent shelter will be crucial. Also supplementing their existing food supply with staples would extend it through winter and will prevent a crisis.
I distributed 60 International Survival Kits [ISKs] that consisted of 40 survival and first aid items packaged in a compact durable, waterproof bag. They are designed to save lives, alleviate suffering and bridge the gap after a disaster before additional help and resources arrive. The AVID class at Branciforte Middle School in Santa Cruz, California created letters that were inserted into the ISKs that was distributed. The AVID children were between the ages of 11-13. Their intent was to inspire, help give them hope and strength in their individual recovery.
I eventually ran out the medical supplies that I had brought from America and was unable to continue treating victims. Thanks to my friends and family on Facebook I was contacted by Jay Tamang the owner of the nonprofit "Nepal FREED". Through his nonprofit Jay bought me $700 in medical supplies from a list of items I requested. Everything was purchased in Kathmandu then we collaborated with villagers to transport the supplies to where I was. I was then able to treat additional injuries and medical ailments. My most difficult missions was an all day hike with one of my Nepal guides Hari Raj Gurung. We traveled across a valley into the Lamjung District. Hari helped me distributed humanitarian aid as I treated patients. While we were there we visited Calcall, it is the furthest village north of this district, located in the Himalayan foothills near the Tibetan boarder. The people here have never seen tourist or hikers and never experienced a hot water shower. In this village like many others they were traumatized and still scared though very accepting of the help we offered.
In Apun I treated a 2 year old girl whose left arm had been broken at the wrist, an injury from large rocks that fell on her during the earthquake. When it was time to have the cast removed, her parents couldn't afford the cost of the 1-2 day trip to the overrun hospital in Kathmandu and couldn't risk getting stuck away from their village and other children if monsoon had begun. I accepted the responsibility and spent over an hour carefully removing the child's cast with a hand saw since that was all we had. I first drew two straight lines as a guide, slowly sawing along my drawn lines, while constantly checking the depth and distance of the saw from the child's arm. I continually read the child's comfort through body language and response. The mother and I occasionally allowed her to pull out some of the cotton from the cast herself. We did this to have her involved in what we were doing to prevent agitation. I repeatedly checked circulation, monitored motor function and slowly rehabilitated movement to prevent strain or discomfort. After the cast was removed I wrapped her wrist in a soft flexible wrap for the next two days. I had also been treating an infected on her right arm from the rock injuries. I gained control over the infection after several days by cleaning and re-wrapping the wound. Neither the child nor child's parents understood English. We communicated through hand signs and active expression. This is just one example of the many challenges in this isolated region.
I immersed myself into this close knit community, their culture and daily life of recovery. I made a lot of friends during my stay, some of them are now considered heroes in their village. The people in Nepal were very hospitable and generous, always checking my comfort or making sure that I wasn't left hungry or cold at night. It was difficult seeing them go through so much pain, see them lose much and struggle to start over, living in harsh conditions such as whole families once having a house with a kitchen to all sharing a small single room makeshift shelter and cooking outside over a fire pit on the ground. I treated people with back pain and joint pain from sleeping on the cold, hard floor, wood beds or right on the ground. I watch families separate from loved ones, move away from the villages to seek safety and security elsewhere. The earthquake also caused negative psychological and societal issues throughout the community that I am not as trained to deal with. To suffice I would have needed a team of professional counselors trained in mass casualty crisis intervention and fluent in the Nepalese languages. I tried to be supportive to everyone in this difficult point of their life.
The villagers and I felt almost every aftershock. Some would wake us in the middle of the night while others would stop us from working. We would step back from unstable walls and rocks to wait. The villagers were very concerned about earthquakes and landslides. One family I spoke with had been in their home during the earthquake and were completely buried under their collapsed roof and walls. The father suffered from the worst injuries as he pointed to where they had dug their way out. On May 12th, I was returning back to Apun from a medical mission in Keprung of the Gorkha District when the 7.3 aftershock hit. I could hear the mountains rumbling and feel the ground shaking side to side. It was very vivid and surreal. Across the valley I could see a village called Khinpu, several large clouds of dust start to rise from what I assume were houses collapsing. People were screaming as I began to run towards Apun. I first checked to see if there were new injuries and then headed out with a translator. In Khinpu we surprisingly didn't find any serious injuries. We then went to Olang, the last village in the Gorkha District. I found and treated several injuries, the most serious was a women who had jumped off a 1st story roof of her home.
Tired and mentally exhausted, we all worked hard. The volunteers, the paid workers, and even the children helped out. Additional help finally started to arrive three weeks after the earthquake. First a Military unit walked through the village with a news crew that were of no direct help to the people. In most situations was not the police or soldiers fault, they had good intentions though they take orders in a climatic
hierarchical system. It wasn't until several days later before the Armed Police Force of Nepal started demolition work of the school just above Apun. Next a small health post was set up in Keprung, a village where all 70 plus houses were completely destroyed. This post was a single tent with a doctor, nurse and a volunteer. There were many disadvantage to this typical health post concept. The post was stationary and people who are injured are generally reluctant to hike for miles to get the help they need when dealing with other concerns in their village. It is more effective for a team of medical personnel to travel to the villages, announce their level of training and treat people on the spot. I know this from first-hand experience. Additionally the health post hours of operation were very limiting, since they were only open from 10am to 4pm. I found the post was often closed for unknown reasons. In a disaster zone people are getting injured at all times and they usually need immediate attention. 32 days after the earthquake the second Police unit helped tear down the damaged community center in Apun. This marked the first day that hands on help was provided to the village from an outside source.
I left Apun to visit a recently established staging area located in Kharibot, a village several miles away. This is where supplies where being held and distributed. I met with the Nepal Military Commander who was based there with his soldiers. He introduced me to a professional geologist named D. P. Adhikari Ph. D. The Commander asked me to take Adhikari on a geological tour of Apun. When we arrived I showed him some of the major earthquake fissures and landslides. Before he left I asked Adhikari to speak to the people in Apun about earthquake geology. This helped the villagers understand earthquakes, eased psychological trauma and embedded ideas that would help them stay safe.
I was constantly held to a high level of responsibility. The Principal Dipak Dawady of Shree Prabha Secondary School in Apun approached me and asked me to assemble seven large military tents that they had picked up at the staging area. A week had gone by and the military had never showed up to assemble them as previously planned. Several volunteers and myself set up two of them, thankfully the Military showed up the next day to set up the rest. Getting the children back in school was a priority that everyone recognize.
There were many injuries and long term health risk associated with the dangerous working conditions. Many people were at risk while cleaning through the debris without safty gear like gloves, shoes, safety goggles, breathing masks etc. The most requested item was the custom made Trash Bag-Rain Jackets like a universal form of humanitarian aid. This small, simple and inexpensive item was very effective. I personally dislike plastic, but it helped so many people stay dry while working outside in the rain and deconstructing their damaged home or building their temporary shelters. To offset the pollution or potential environmental impact that it may cause so I found a solution. Before leaving the region I spend 4 hours sorting through the waste and collected 30 pounds of plastic trash from around the villages. Damaged trash bags, candy wrappers, soda bottles, potato chip bags, used rubber medical gloves even some rusty batteries were collected. I packed it all into my black military duffle bag and flew it with me to the US to be recycled it correctly. This was my moral obligation and also set a good example.
Before I flew back to America, the Armed Police Force of Nepal and local villagers had secretly organized a surprise party for me. They all got together one night and sat me down in a special chair. They told me that they didn't have money or gifts to thank me for my volunteer services and humanitarian aid I had provided, so they danced and played music in front of me. As they came up to me, they placed flower garlands and silk scarfs that they call "kartas" around my neck while greeting me. It was an amazing experience. I felt honored with their expressions of gratitude.
My goal of this story is to further inspire more people to get involved in issues affecting our global society today. I also hope that my pictures and stories create a deeper awareness of this disaster while directing additional help and resources towards the long term recovery in Nepal in order to prevent a situation like we witnessed in Haiti. Imagine a collective society that took responsibility for their combined environmental impact and transitioned into sustainable world before it was too late. Collaborated international emergency relief efforts could then focus on victims of natural disasters and not absorbed into man-made disasters or crisis caused by changing weather patterns associated with rapid climate changes connected to global warming.
Special thanks to all the people that donated supplies or contributed towards my mission. I couldn't have done this without a solid network of people that trust in me and support my projects ideas. Please view my website: www.advanceddisasterrelief.com for additional volunteer information and my education background in emergency services.
Live video streaming coming soon twitter.com/alekzlondos