Before the earthquake, I’d already decided my group would join Jeff Rasely’s group trekking to Basa Village in October. We plan to stay a few extra days to attend the Second Annual Benefit concert for Dadagaun School. We are in a wait and see situation right now. Our help is needed more than ever because the orphanage needs to be rebuilt. The kids are sleeping out under a couple tents given by the army but they are far from adequate. They are ok for now but the situation will become more difficult as time passes.
One boy was under some falling rubble but was pulled out and was not seriously injured.The school appears to be remarkably unscathed from the outside.The school principal’s home and it is badly cracked and unsafe. He will need to rebuild it. the same goes for several other of the village houses but remarkably others seem undamaged.
The quake really shook the Shivapuri hills…. I got the impression more than down on the flat areas of KTM but who knows. All three buildings at Shivapuri heights (the lodge where we stay in the foothills above Kathmandu) have been damaged. The original Cottage seems to have been the least affected apart from most of the tiles having been shaken off. The little Cottage have suffered quite badly with serious cracks in the lounge area and a partial collapse of the verandah. The new house has suffered some bad cracks on the upper portion and will need some serious repair work before it can be deemed safe to live in again…. this is all of course assuming that there will be no more serious quakes or even tremors which seems to be affecting many of the buildings in KTM…. there is fear that many more will collapse over time…
