A San Diego organization is putting out an open call for volunteers, asking everyone to join them in helping the millions affected by the devastating Nepal earthquake.
Deborah Eriksson, the executive director of Restore International, is trying to get a group together to travel to Nepal next week.
Last fall, the Point Loma-based organization built an orphanage in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, where the quake killed nearly 4,400 people and caused severe damage to religious sites and city infrastructure.
Eriksson said six young girls and their caretakers live in the orphanage. For 24 hours after the quake, she and the founder didn’t know if they were OK.
“Over in Nepal, there’s only electricity about two hours a day, and Sunday that’s all they had,” she said. “[We were on the phone], but I could barely hear him saying ‘The girls are OK. Everybody’s fine,’ so a sigh of relief at that.”
Eriksson hopes her trip helps the community as a whole, not just the orphanage, and she wants other San Diegans to join her.
“We’d love to work with different people and maximize our impact over there,” she said.
Local
Everyone is welcoming to join her effort, Eriksson said, especially people with specific aid-related experience like doctors and nurses. If you can’t travel to Nepal, Eriksson said the group is also accepting money donations.
To find out more on how you can help this local group, visit their website.
