Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund was set up by KE Adventure and The Juniper Trust
KE Adventure Travel and The Juniper Trust set up The Nepal Earthquake Relief Fund on Monday 27 April and have since raised over US $55,000 through donations. The appeal was launched with this moving statement from KE’s Director Tim Greening:
“We have extremely close ties with Nepal and have been leading groups out there for 30 years and have always been supported by the ever smiling locals when times got tough for us on trek! Now is our turn to help them, Nepal desperately needs you. Help those affected by this devastating earthquake. 100% of any money raised will go directly to help those in most need. However big or small, every penny counts in helping them rebuild their lives.” Tim Greening, KE Director
Ade Summers, one of KE Adventure Travel’s most experienced guides arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday 28th April and reported a few shops and vegetable markets have started to reopen but on the dark side, the horror of what has happened in some of the remote mountain villages is starting to become news.
Ade is now on a tour to assess the damage to all the Juniper Trust projects in the Kathmandu Valley area and to find out about the affect the earthquake had on the people who work on JT projects. KE Adventure and the Juniper Trust released $8000 to buy blankets, shelter and food to give out as immediate relief in the areas that Ade will visit.
At the moment Kathmandu is awash with aid groups but the remoter areas are not getting any of this. It is in the next few months that the most important aid will be needed when Nepal is not so much in the headlines. The Juniper Trust plan is to split the donations between repairing the JT projects and aid their staff in the Kathmandu Valley which helps 100s of children, against long term aid for the remoter areas and villages which are the homes of our regular trekking staff. We believe that by using people we know well we can make a small difference in remoter parts that will struggle to get aid, but this needs to be held back a few weeks while we assess where it is best put to use.
The latest we have heard from Nepal is that the local staff we work with are safe and well and returning to their homes tonight to sleep for the first time since the quake.
Donations can be made at http://ow.ly/MjXsp. KE Adventure Travel can guarantee 100% of funds raised go directly to those in need.