Social media helps Milwaukee’s Nepalese community raise $60,000 for earthquake relief

UWM professor Kalyani Rai, a native of Nepal, traveled recently to that country to present $60,000 in earthquake relief funds that were raised in the Milwaukee area. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)
UWM professor Kalyani Rai, a native of Nepal, traveled recently to that country to present $60,000 in earthquake relief funds that were raised in the Milwaukee area. (UWM Photo/Troye Fox)

When a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, Milwaukee’s Nepalese community knew about it immediately.

Social media beat news media. Facebook and Twitter messages from earthquake survivors in Nepal kept their family and friends in Milwaukee aware of the destruction “in real time,” according to Kalyani Rai, a UWM associate professor and native of Nepal. They continue to rely on social media for news about the aftermath and re-building efforts.

Rai, the only UWM faculty member from Nepal, helped to raise money in Milwaukee for earthquake relief efforts. She was scheduled to travel to Nepal on June 19 to present the $60,000 raised here to Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala on behalf of the Milwaukee Nepalese community.

“I plan to talk with him about how the money may be used. There are many needs now in Nepal, from rebuilding homes and schools to providing medical care to the earthquake victims,” Rai said. “We will take this opportunity to develop a long-term humanitarian relationship between Milwaukee and Nepal. Money raised will be used towards rebuilding sectors of priorities, such as education, health and housing in improving the quality of life of earthquake-affected children and families,” Rai said.

Milwaukee Nepali Pariwar, a volunteer-based nonprofit agency in Milwaukee, led the fund-raising drive. Rai is an adviser to the agency’s executive board. The money was raised through online and cash donations and at a brunch hosted at the Hindu Temple of Wisconsin. A candlelight vigil for earthquake victims was held May 27 in Milwaukee.

As part of an on-going effort, additional donations can be made to milwaukeenepalipariwar.org.

“Thousands of schools were destroyed,” Rai said. “My sister runs a school in Kathmandu. After the earthquake, parents and children were staying in the school compound because they were afraid to go home. Even now, the children can attend school only two hours a day.”

The initial earthquake on April 25 killed more than 8,800 people and injured at least 23,000. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless, entire villages were flattened and many temples were destroyed. Along with aftershocks, it was called the worst natural disaster to strike Nepal since a 1934 earthquake that killed between 11,000 and 12,000 people. It also triggered avalanches on Mt. Everest and elsewhere in the mountainous country, killing hundreds more.

A professor of educational policy and community studies in the School of Education, Rai said she was impressed by the use of social media during and after the earthquake. People communicate with each other and with government officials on where help is needed. A special cellphone number enables them to let officials know when promised aid is not arriving on time.

Rai said her family members in Nepal escaped injury. Some 20 Nepali students attend UWM, and Rai said she knew of a few who returned after the earthquake. About 500 people of Nepalese descent live in the Milwaukee area.

Rai hopes to develop an international education fieldwork practicum course between UWM and Nepal, to be launched in 2017.

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