While Texas Tech University students are rushing from classes to the library, racing to finish school projects and cramming for finals, Sabina Gurung, 27, has larger issues on her mind.
Gurung is attempting to figure out how she can complete her master’s degree before her scheduled August graduation in order to return to her family in Nepal. Her family members lost their home as a result of the 7.9-magnitude earthquake April 25.
A poster hangs in the free speech area on campus, as the Texas Tech University chapter of the Nepal Students’ Association fundraises for their native country.
“They didn’t get supplies yet,” Gurung said of her family living in a village in the Sinhupalchowk District.
“Thank God, they have some rice, so they can cook and eat, but most of the villages are gone. So, they are living outside, no home.”
The College of Media & Communication graduate student said rescue and humanitarian aid has been focused on the capital, leaving the villages and rural areas neglected. Gurung’s hometown also lost its school and medical care facility, and the government has not cleared the road from the landslide. The natural disaster ruined corn and rice crops.
“I just want to go home and stay with family and help them as much as I can,” Gurung said.
Gurung is not alone in her effort. Currently, the Texas Tech chapter of the Nepal Students’ Association has been collecting money for those in the country without food or shelter. The group has been fundraising in the free speech area and leaving donation buckets at local businesses.
Saba Nefees, right, Student Government Association graduate vice president, writes a check to aid Nepal in its disaster in the free speech area. Roshan Bimali, left, president of the Nepal Students’ Association, thanks her.
“Back home, a dollar can buy two meals,” Roshan Bimali, the Nepal Students’ Association president, said. “If you can, just pray for the people of our country.”
Bimali, a junior chemical engineering student from eastern Nepal, explained the multicultural and international student organizations have been working together to help fundraising efforts for the country. The university showed support by hosting a candlelight vigil Friday evening, as members of the community arrived to collectively pray for Nepal.
Another member of the organization, Bindu Upadhyaya, who came to the university in 2011 from Tanghas, Nepal, explained some Texas Tech students have not heard about the earthquake or even the nation of Nepal.
T Bindu Upadhyaya, a accounting graduate student, stands by the earthquake relief booth in the free speech area.
“I would suggest for people that don’t know about the story and what happened, that they would just open their hearts and see if they could donate even $5,” Upadhyaya said.
Fortunately, Upadhyaya’s family was largely unaffected by the natural disaster. The graduate student studying accounting said only a few in her extended family were shaken from the aftershocks of the earthquake.
“A dollar is 100 Nepalese rupee,” Upadhyaya said, encouraging students to donate in the free speech area. “You can almost feed a family with that.”
Gurung estimated the Nepal Students’ Association has raised about $7,000 thus far, noting Texas Tech has had a positive influence in the aid effort.
Buckets for monetary donations sit on a booth in the free speech area.
Though the village Gurung hails from does not have electricity, she was able to communicate with her family a few days after the disaster because they own several cell phones and charge them by the battery, turning off two or three at a time.
She said the majority of the news from her area is coming from social media by someone uploading a photo or video to Facebook or Twitter. Gurung expressed interest in researching how social media helps families communicate in rural areas once she returns to Nepal.
“I couldn’t sleep like the last three days,” the student said, noting professors have been lenient with her recent deadlines, “but right now my family is safe.”
Those who wish to aid Nepal may donate to the Nepal Students’ Association directly or through the university with this link.
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