AN OAKENSHAW man is desperately trying to raise funds to help his family’s village which was decimated by the Nepal earthquake.
Gumbo Tamang, who is originally from Thulo Bharku, needs as much money as possible to help re-build his family’s home and help fellow villagers after the 7.9 magnitude earthquake destroyed the community.
Of the 150 to be made homeless include his own parents, as well as other family members, with some having to sleep in makeshift shelters on the roads and in fields.
It is currently still too unsafe to search the ruins, while the road into the village is blocked by landslides caused by tremors.
It is also nearing the start of monsoon season which adds an extra risk of further landslides.
The natural disaster has claimed the lives of nearly 5,000 people so far, while over 9,000 are injured.
But the numbers are expected to rise as searches continue, while others are stuck in remote villages with no access to food.
Gumbo, who has worked at the Alex hospital for more than seven years, found out the devastating news while he lay in bed.
“I was in bed and my wife’s nan rang to say she had seen it on the TV and then my wife and son told me.
“My first thought was to call my family, but I couldn’t get through to the village. I tried and tried and nothing, but eventually I managed.
“I spoke with my sister-in-law and she told me everything had gone and it had all collapsed.
“She said they were all okay thankfully, but if they had left two or three minutes later they would have been killed.”
“You just feel so helpless. I thought ‘I’m here and can’t do anything’ so that is why I wanted to do something,” he added.
“I set up this funding page and in a couple of hours I already had £500. The next time I put my target higher and people started giving £50 or £100 and I had reached £1,000.”
“I want to take the money over myself and help them and see the money go into the village. You can’t always trust that all the villages are going to get help, so this is why I want to do it. I want to help as many people as I can.”
Visit www.gofundme.com/Thulo_bharku to donate to the cause.
