Meme Norsang
10 September 2020
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One of the respected man in his time of Langtang village left the world in a very tragic way at the age of around 85
NGO of direct aid to the Langtang people (Nepal)
Since 2015 helping the development in the area of Langtang, affected after an earthquake and a subsequent avalanche that swept away the whole town and its inhabitants leaving a desert of ice and rocks…
Pasang Bhuti Tamang
I was born and raised in Langtang and have wonderful memories of those years with my parents and 6 siblings. We lived in a small stone house that my father built, and now I realize that it was a very difficult condition, but I have always felt the love of my family and I think that is the most important thing. I especially realized this when in April 2015 an avalanche of rocks and ice swept through the entire village and my mother disappeared along with my grandmother and many other relatives and friends…
Tshering Mendo
My mother was always a fighter, not only to get a large family without almost any resources in a very tough mountain environment, but she also fought for the rights of the women in the village and also bravely faced the injustices between rich and poor. For me she has been and will always be an example to follow. I feel lost without her and I feel that I have to do something to make her feel close to me.
The MENDO FAMILY FOUNDATION project is a tribute to what my mother was and is born from the love I feel when I remember her.
I feel that she showed me the way and taught me how important it is to help others even when you have nothing… That is why, even though I now live in Spain, I must continue to help my people as much as possible after this tragedy.
Everyone in the village knew my mother, and they always tell me that she would be very proud of what we are doing in Langtang.
First actions
Faced with the emergency situation we focused on helping the survivors of the earthquake with the most urgent and basic things, and to manage that first aid we had to create the Langtang Disaster Relief Fund association in Spain.
- Sponsors- We found sponsors so that the children could be in a safe environment and continue with their “normal life” while their parents tried to overcome the tragedy and find a way out.
- Direct Aids- We got help for families without resources who had lost their home and livelihood in Langtang and needed to rent a temporary stay in Kathmandu to be near their children until they could live in the mountains again.
We also got financial support for women who had been left alone with children, some with serious injuries, who could not care for themselves… - Donations- We collected donations during the first year after the tragedy and in 2017 we distributed them among the 110 surviving families.
- Media coverage- We publicized what happened, held events and participated in any initiative that could give visibility to our project, and got many different people and larger NGOs involved in Langtang’s recovery in many ways. We were always in contact with survivors in all countries (we are still in touch today) and helped them to coordinate their support and their own projects for Langtang.
- Volunteering- Over the years, there have been people who wanted to come to Langtang to help personally, and we have helped them get into the community to lend a hand where needed. The volunteers live an intense experience of living together and create links with the locals that last over time.
- Nepal Reconstruction- With the amazing help of Julé y Namasté (ONG from Bolzano/Italy) we returned to Langtang in person to rebuild several houses, deliver solar lamps to the villagers and in 2018 we distributed yaks to the nomadic herders who had lost their animals during the earthquake.
You can see all these actions from 2015 in our BLOG.
In order to move forward with new projects in Langtang we had to create the NGO Mendo Family in Nepal, especially to address legal issues that through the association LangtangDisaster in Spain could not be managed.
CURRENT PROJECTS:
Now Langtang’s recovery is a reality. Tourism in the area is recovering, and the inhabitants of the area have their homes back. But recovering from such a catastrophe is very slow and difficult, and there are still people who have been left behind from this recovery and have basic needs to cover. Mostly old people who have been left alone, widows, nomadic shepherds…
From Mendo Family we have not stopped working together with Julé & Namasté to keep the projects going.
Many elderly people have been neglected as a result of the death of relatives or the migration of children and grandchildren to Kathmandu or out of Nepal.
Education is very important to get out of poverty, especially in the mountains where normally there is a survival economy.
To help families without resources with the construction of homes with a good foundation and capacity to withstand possible future earthquakes.
Julé & Namasté
Luciano, Martin, Fabio and Sara contacted us from Bolzano (Italy) because they wanted to help in Langtang after the earthquake. For this purpose they had created an association called Nepal Reconstruction which was later renamed Julé & Namasté. It seemed to us very well everything what they proposed us and their motivations, and we square dates to be able to go up together to Langtang. In April 2017 we carried out the first joint actions and it was a great experience with many exciting moments. Since then we have not stopped collaborating in different projects. We are always in touch, we see each other every year and today we can already say that they have become great friends and part of the Langtang community, where everybody knows them and waits for them with joy.
Farewell and new beginning
17 May 2018
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It’s been two years since the last post we wrote. A long time if … The truth is that after giving your donations to the
Yaks Project 2018
17 May 2018
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Before tourism came to Langtang we lived on agriculture and our animals. I remember as a child going after my uncle’s goats while they grazed
