Call for tourists to help heal Nepal
The best way to help post-earthquake Nepal might be to visit and support the economy directly through tourism, according to one charity who says the government has been slow to use donations for rebuilding.
By JESSIKA SWARBRICK
Australian charities are encouraging tourists to visit Nepal despite government cautioning, six months after catastrophic earthquake Gorkha struck.
The 7.3 magnitude quake last April killed over 8000 people and destroyed 500,000 homes resulting in $10 billion damage.
• In the aftermath: Fears for children as Nepal struggles with massive rebuild
Despite receiving $4.4 billion in aid from the international community, charities claim the Government of Nepal has made minimal effort to rebuild.
Australian charity MyGapYear founder Debra Daniels said she was “disappointed” in both Nepal's and Australia’s efforts to restore pre-quake conditions.
“The only way the Australian Government can make sure the money goes where it is supposed to is if they go in themselves and they provide the manpower,” Ms Daniels said.
MyGapYear planned to build a new refuge centre in Nepal to help address the earthquake’s aftermath but was forced to cancel because of shortages of volunteers and finances.
The centre would have assisted in rebuilding homes in devastated areas along with providing education and resources to support local communities.
“It is really important that people volunteer and assist because tourism in particular brings a lot of money into Kathmandu … and without that a lot of the families can’t support themselves,” she said.
Nepalese Association of Victoria vice-president Deepa Rai said Nepal was “safe to travel” and encouraged tourists to visit remote villages so locals “will be able to get some sort of livelihood ... that will keep them going”.
Ms Rai said it was important Australians visited Nepal rather then donate to “generate involvement [and] income for the people really affected by the earthquake”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has posted online that Australians should ”reconsider their need to travel” to Nepal.
