Phila. area Nepalis worry about family, homeland

Growing up in the Palpa district of Nepal, Rina Lama remembers childhood holidays spent at her father's home in a remote farmland village.

She recalls walls covered in pictures, and family heirlooms. Afternoons spent chasing animals on her farm, and working around a house that meant "more to us than gold."

On Saturday, that house - one that was home for seven generations of Lama's family - collapsed, crushing and killing her aunt. Lama, from her home in Philadelphia, learned that the woman was among at least 16 other relatives believed to have died in the earthquake that killed thousands - and left millions homeless and confused.

Philadelphia-area residents with ties to the region share their confusion: Area Nepalese immigrants and others with friends there say they can't make contact abroad. Internet access and working phone lines are sparse.

"I feel so helpless," said Lama, 36, who came to America as a child in the 1980s and works as a supervisor at a fast-food restaurant. "I'm sitting here doing nothing, and I can't call anyone. We have no clue what is happening."

The Philadelphia area is home to at least 700 Nepalese immigrants, according to census data. And across the region, efforts are underway to gather aid and help find loved ones.

The Bhutanese American Organization-Philadelphia, a community organization for South Asian immigrants and refugees, is collecting donations and planning a fund-raising dinner, said executive director Leela Kuikel. All proceeds will go to to Nepal for medicine and food, he said.

Wayne-based Geneva Global, a philanthropic consulting firm, has also launched a recovery fund. And the Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Red Cross is encouraging donations to the national organization and referring people to a webpage that lists Nepal residents who are missing and reported to be alive.

Donations help, but concerns are also rising about health and living conditions in the quake's aftermath, especially in remote villages. Before Saturday's quake, Nepal was already a nation in disarray. That has only been compounded by the disaster.

"Nepal is a tough place to communicate in the best of circumstances," said Susan Hough, a seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, who has spent long periods of time in Nepal. "Reaching and aiding will be tough."

Lansdale lawyer Bandita Sharma-Dahal said her parents, who live in Kathmandu, were safe. She worries about the spread of disease from bodies trapped in collapsed buildings and about the lack of clean drinking water.

Lama said that to prevent illness, her relatives had to burn her aunt's body after it was crushed by her father's house, bypassing a Nepalese ceremony of cremation.

"It was difficult for my family," Lama said. "But our temple was destroyed. There's nothing we can do."

She knows their house is replaceable and has been relieved to have some contact with her surviving relatives. But the village is months away from rebuilding. And she worries for the children in her extended family, who she says are searching for food and living under a makeshift tent.

"I just want to know what else I can do," Lama said. "We've already cried so much. Now I just want to save my family."

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