Nepal won’t be back to normal for a long time

But that mustn’t discourage us from trying to help,

About a month ago, I got the call about a major earthquake in Nepal. Within 48 hours, I was on a plane to Kathmandu, to join our team to connect with children and families who had survived the disaster. I knew my life would be changed forever by what lay ahead. I didn’t know it would be by a boy named Ram.

I met thirteen-year-old Rambhakta in the town of Bhaktapur, a few days after that first earthquake shook his world to pieces. He was crammed under a tarpaulin with far too many other earthquake survivors. A week earlier, Ram had been an enthusiastic student who loved to play with his friends. But the day I met him, there was nothing on Ram’s horizon but the certainty of pain and loss. Ram told me that he was afraid to go back to school. Why? Because he didn’t want to learn how many of his friends had died in the earthquake.

I experienced many things in Nepal which shook me to my core, yet Ram’s story stands out among them. Imagine a reality in which the only remotely secure place is under a sheet of plastic. The ground beneath you continues to rumble periodically. You hear bricks falling and people screaming. But even this nightmare is better than the idea of learning that beloved friends didn’t survive.

We all have much work ahead of us in Nepal. The relief phase of the emergency response is likely to be lengthy and exceedingly difficult, especially with the monsoon — heavy rain on an almost daily basis — just weeks away. Aid groups are working together to meet people’s needs, but Nepal’s geography and limited infrastructure mean supplies often need to be flown or hand-carried to remote mountain communities. The monsoon will likely cause more landslides, adding to those brought on by the earthquakes, making steep, bumpy roads virtually impassable.

So far, World Vision has already reached nearly 32,000 people, supporting the urgent needs of families in the hardest-hit areas. Thousands of tarps, blankets, mosquito nets, food supplies and kitchen sets have been distributed. And more assistance is on the way. But that doesn’t mean life is anywhere near returning to normal, as some recent media reports have indicated. Life in Nepal will not return to normal for many years to come.

In the immediate future, the challenges facing families will be enormous. I’m hearing reports of Nepali mothers afraid to walk their children to medical clinics for fear that another earthquake will strike along the way, or the clinic will fall down on top of them. It’s estimated that more than 5,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed — depriving children of the chance to resume their education.

Then there’s the severe emotional stress that children like Ram are living through every day. He and many other children will need counselling and psychosocial support to cope with what they’ve experienced.

But despite the daunting realities in Nepal, I want to encourage you not to turn away in hopelessness. Before leaving the country, I visited one of the many child-friendly spaces World Vision has established, where children can rest, play and heal.

As I watched, the specially-trained volunteers soon had the children laughing and singing. Outside the large tent, parents gathered to talk, to comfort one another. I could feel their hope, the incredible determination that life would go on.

The earthquake which destroyed their communities hadn’t crushed their spirits.

We must keep Nepal close to our hearts, and do anything we can to help. Know that the journey ahead will require incredible patience and immense perseverance. There is no quick fix.

Our response needs to move from relief to rebuilding — and soon. That’s a harder road. But if the families of Nepal can find the courage to step out from under the tarp, we owe it to them to walk alongside them.