This Article is From May 17, 2015

Aftershocks of Nepal Earthquake Take a Toll on Relief Workers

Aftershocks of Nepal Earthquake Take a Toll on Relief Workers

File photo of Nepal earthquake.

Kathmandu: As a second powerful quake struck Nepal on Tuesday, one of those caught in a landslide was Saroj Pokhriyal, a program co-ordinater at Action Aid.

He was on way to Rasuwa, an area 100 kms from Kathmandu badly affected by the first devastating quake to help in relief work. Describing the nightmare he says "Our tyre got punctured and we got off to change it. That's when the earthquake happened. Stones started falling from the mountain, there was so much dust that we couldn't see anything. Thankfully none of us got injured"

His team had a narrow escape but he is back at work already, preparing for his next trip. Colleagues pat his back as he comes in.

His colleague Hima Bista comes to work everyday at 6 am and only goes back home once all relief trucks out in the field come back, even as her own family is living in a tent in the garden. With a big bindi on her forehead, sporting a bigger smile she says "After the recent quake, we realised that places where we had provided temporary  shelters have collapsed again, .so we have to go back. People are vulnerable again"

Sarita Lama, a helper in the office lost her house and belongings but has not missed a day of work since the disaster. She has now moved in a tent on the office premises.

Pokhriyal admits he regrets not having enough time for his family who are not in Kathmandu, "Yes this is the time we would like to be with family, they need us but so do the survivors. That is the motivation"
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