As Nepal reels under the 7.8-magnitude earthquake and its subsequent aftershocks, I couldn’t help but flashback to the days I spent exploring Kathmandu’s rutted, dusty streets.
The pictures of destruction starkly contrast the images I captured of hardscrabble, but thriving streets and neighborhoods. Seeing the latest photos remind me of life’s fragility. How life can change in a second.
Durbar Square, the epicenter of Kathmandu and draw for tourists and locals alike looks mauled, reduced to piles of bricks. Its hundreds of years old temples I once stood upon transformed into mounds of rubble.
Years ago I was in India during the tsunami of 2004. I traveled to Tamil Nadu, the area devastated by waves, to document the aftermath and help rebuild lives. I built shelters, gave paper and markers for children and adults to draw and shared a supportive smile. I was compelled to act and to help. Today, thousands of miles away from Nepal, I still want to help and hope you will as well.
The New York Times has compiled a list of relief organizations working in Nepal. Please check out the list to contribute and together we’ll help lift Nepal onto the path of healing.
(The New York Times also published photos documenting buildings before and after the earthquake that are worth looking at, here.)
