How to help Nepal?

More than almost anything, and perhaps maybe from every corner of the world the furious question that’s coming our way is “how can we help”? 

The first few days of the quake was almost as chaotic as our brains which could not process so many aftershocks, and the fact that we were still alive even after being in a situation that resembled close to what happens in the Apocalypse themed movie 2012. 

A few who had way better reflex, and the capacity to deal with the monstrosity of the whole disaster had already started to respond both offline and online. When I got back power two days later, there were postings online on where to donate funds, where to go to volunteer, what materials to donate and to who. As the number of days since the quake increased,, more brains including slower ones like mine worked in a collective frenzy in response. By now, we know that millions of money, tonnes of relief items, and thousands of people have come or are on the way. 

But still, this question haunts: what can we do to help? How can we help? 

Like many who has an online presence, I too have gotten my share of this haunting question. At times I might have given a circumlocutory answer to avoid saying directly that frankly I do not know. At other times, I simply might have shrugged my shoulder to indicate that it doesn't matter how you help because it is eventually going to disappear in that sea of in-coordination which seems to be the hallmark of this whole “helping Nepal” thing. 

But let me zip up the cynic in me, and let the “reflective” me do the talking here. Part of the reason why it has been difficult to answer people is because in this age of instant gratification where our attention span for anything has dwindled to mere 2 seconds, it is difficult to put into one sentence/one instagram post/one hashtag, and one status update how Nepal can be helped. When you have so many online articles floating around, so many online crowdrise where with a click of button you can “help”, it does feel like people want quick, easy answer: a solution which they can give with a click. And so you think and you think and you think, but you cannot vouch for just one crowdrise, or outline one simple activity that would work for somebody who lives a thousand miles away, is a residential nurse, who wants to volunteer, who is your couchsurfing buddy who you barely know and who does not speak Nepali. 

Since I, like many around me, have gone through perhaps the biggest disaster of my life I would first maybe like to tell you what it means to be just alive. And then perhaps maybe I would also want to talk about my family, and friends and about all the other fellow citizens that made it through. Perhaps maybe I would like to also explain to somebody about the “survival’s guilt” that I feel when I remember all those others who could maybe have been saved if not for this or that. And then maybe I would like to have talked piece meal about little and big things that could have been done to save those lives. Maybe I would like to have talked about somebody who had lost their loved ones. Maybe, if somebody asked me how I was doing and what I was feeling instead of asking how they can #supportNepal, maybe I wouldn't be so clueless as what the answer would be. And maybe after I was done expressing my jumbled up emotion I would have achieved some clarity, and then maybe I would have asked for their help myself. But could I have held attention for that long a time? 

World, can we hold your attention for that long a time, until we are emotionally and physically healed? Do you have time to figure out the answer along with us?

***Irrelevant Example 1***
The US Military Force already knew of the Nepal’s disaster and they had prepared for it says one article. As part of their relief effort the US marine sent 4 osprey aircraft which turned out to be impractical for Nepal. These aircrafts were causing mini earthquake themselves. Who did they ask for suggestion before bringing their Ospreys here? Maybe they should have listened instead of doling out the solution themselves. Maybe they got one line answer about how to “Help Nepal”. 

***Irrelevant Example 2***
About two years ago, during a class in “global rural development” where students had to play out hypothetical situation of solving major “third world problems”, one of our sessions was dealing with obesity in kids from lower income family in some country of North America. There was the World Food Program, there was the world bank, there was the nutrition experts, there were consultants, there were NGOs, and the Government. And there were the parents. I was in the parents category along with 2 other meek international students. The class runs for an hour. During all this time, the professor asked the opinion about possible causes of this, and probable solutions from every “stakeholder” in the meeting, except for one group. No hard guess there. The parents. The popular solution was that kids not be fed fast food anymore, and that international community also pressurize big companies to not export cheap fast food to that particular country. I had written on my notes as one of the parents, “I need to work more than 18 hours just to make ends meet. I do not have enough time to prepare healthy food for my children. Nor do I have enough money to buy wholesome food. So I feed my kids fast food even though I know they might not be 100% best for my children. But rather than the kids going hungry, at least they are eating.”