On April 25 2015, a 7.8 magnitude devastated Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people, and injuring another 16,800 people. About 2.8 million people were displaced by the disaster, with many communities still struggling to recover years later.
Part of the Adventure Abroad Gatlang Experience, we took Fahan School from Tasmania Australia on a truly life changing and memorable journey.
One of the hardest hit areas was the Lantang Valley, where the earthquake triggered an avalanche. Gatlang was one of the many communities that were completely reduced to nearly nothing. The earthquake knocked down more than 400 houses and many hundreds of people perished.
The Fahan School girls wanted to do something that actually made a difference. The Gatlang community don’t get many tourists due to its remote location, making it unable to earn income outside of its own local economy. Additionally, despite being one of the most severely affected areas, it has not received any funding either from their government or from aid communities to help restructure and regain their footing as a community. This is due to a lack of accountability within a flawed system. As a result, it was important to both Fahan and Adventure Abroad that a sustainable system was established, to ensure that change and assistance goes directly to the community, which is still struggling to find its feet.
This project has been in the works for approximately 18 months. It aims to provide the community with goods aimed towards education, such as textbooks and stationery. Female sanitary products, which are difficult to source in the area, will also be provided by the project.
The Fahan girls will continue to be in contact with the Gatlang community so that the project will continue to supply items that are required and the community has difficulty sourcing.
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