28/04/2015
Berlin Ct Man Helping Nepal Quake Victims
Berlin Man Is In Nepal, Helping Quake Victims
Brian Ford
Brian Ford's four-month humanitarian journey took him 1,500 miles from South Vietnam to Thailand. (Courtesy of Brian Ford)
By Bill Leukhardt contact the reporter
Asia Earthquakes
Berlin man is in Nepal, helping victims of Saturday's earthquake
BERLIN — Brian Ford, who went to Nepal a week ago to volunteer at a medical clinic, survived Saturday's earthquake in Kathmandu and has been working with other volunteers to bring supplies to flattened villages in the Gorka district, near the quake's epicenter.
Ford, 22, of Berlin, was in a third-floor apartment in Pokhara, about 100 miles northwest of Kathmandu and about 50 miles west of the epicenter. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 4,000 people and injured thousands more shook Pokhara fiercely but caused few injuries or damage, Ford said.
Buildings in Pokhara are mostly reinforced concrete, so are much stronger than the older wooden homes and structures that collapsed elsewhere, he said Monday via email.
"Our city Pokhara is OK, and it was almost strange how back to normal everything seemed just hours after the earthquake. No real damage or casualties despite the whole city violently shaking for 90 seconds, everything just eerily back to normal," he wrote.
"My girlfriend and I are about to embark on a 3-5 day trip with a ragtag group of 10+ social activists from all over the world to take a few 4x4 jeeps each loaded with hundreds of dollars of medical supplies, shelter equipment, food, and water to rural villages of need around Gorka."
Their goal was to bring help to rural mountain villages near the epicenter, where as many as 90 percent of homes were wiped out by the earthquake. Most of the major relief efforts have been focused on heavily populated areas, like the capital Kathmandu.
Travel is difficult in good times and post-earthquake driving will be "pretty challenging, as it's almost uncomprehensible how mountainous Nepal is, leading to the gnarliest roads you'll ever see," Ford wrote.
Ford, whose girlfriend, Alina Brugal, is also in Pokhara volunteering at an orphanage, said they've started a fundraising effort called "Saveruralnepal" at gofundme.com.
"We hope to use this first donation push over the next couple days to fund these relief efforts (rent jeeps, buy medical supplies, sleeping bags and tarps for everyone homeless, food, water, etc.) as there will likely be more than one relief push," he wrote. "People may want to donate supplies, but honestly money is what we need now. Items are cheaper here in Nepal, and by buying things in bulk we can get it even cheaper."
Ford went to Nepal earlier this month after completing a 1,500-mile walk from Vietnam through Cambodia and to coastal Thailand. His "Trek For Education" took 75 days. He raised $22,200 for a charity that sends orphan teens in Nepal, Cambodia and Tanazania to college.
When the earthquake hit in Nepal, he first thought "cool, an earthquake." That idea lasted only 10 seconds because the shaking became worse. He worried that he and his girlfriend might die as their building rocked, neighbors screamed and people ran into the streets. There have been about 40 aftershocks since.
"My not particularly religious girlfriend preferred the classic "Get Down on all Fours and Pray" method, while I took the approach of screaming and running out into the streets in my boxers," he said.
Copyright © 2015, Hartford Courant
