A Canberra charity set up in the wake of the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal is now working to help the country left reeling from this week's devastating flash flood and landslides.
REACH for Nepal has for more than a decade been raising money for work on infrastructure, health and education in the country while also giving Australians the chance to work on local community projects.
It was founded by Canberra trekking enthusiast and yoga teacher Lou Nulley and Nepalese-born Lachhu Thapa, originally know for The Hungry Buddha restaurants in Curtin and Belconnen, who has since moved back to Nepal to coordinate its projects on the ground.
"The devastation is incredible," Mr Nulley, the foundation's chief executive officer, said.
"The actual number of people who lost their lives will likely be in the thousands once the toll from the many villages and towns is taken into account. Then there will be a massive number of homeless people, as well as challenges in getting aid into areas where roads and bridges have been wiped out.
"Many people have contacted us wanting to assist, so we have set up a GiveNow page for this purpose."
Mr Nulley said 100 per cent of donations would go to help people affected by the flood and landslides. Contributions will help fund urgent search and rescue, emergency shelter, food, clean water and medical assistance.
Thankfully, the charity's team on the ground in Nepal were not affected.
"Everyone associated with the foundation and the villages we have assisted are fine. The region where we work is in western Nepal, about 300kms from the northern border where the floods originated," Mr Nulley said.
The link to donate is at https://www.givenow.com.au/nepal-flood-landslide-emergency-appeal
"Watching the footage come in was incredibly sad," Mr Nulley said.
"A country which has endured so many natural disasters was once again devastated by another natural cause. As the day progressed, more and more raw footage of the flood's impact became available. Terrible, terrible news. Even now, I don't think the full extent of the devastation is comprehensible."
