Day 7: Updates from Student Volunteers

Kundan S Rana, class of 2016

On 3 May a team of staff and students from DWIT went to Kaalmochan temple, located at Thapathali. We went there to do our part of volunteering duties as a team of 13 members, working from around 1:30 PM to 5:30 PM. The situation there is bad: the main temple is completely destroyed, and all that remains are the small statues that surrounded it. While we were there, members of the army pulled out statues buried under the rubble, including a seven foot Shiva statue and a Laxmi Narayan statue, both a little damaged. Many smaller statues and pooja utensils were destroyed. We left satisfied that we had made a small difference, but disheartened at the loss of such a historical heritage site.

Barsha Dahal, class of 2017

Without long or specific planning we decided to go to Kaalmochan Ghat at Tripureshwor. Seeing this old temple destroyed by the earthquake was spine chilling. We decided to remove the debris as much as we could and worked as a team carrying bricks. Helping each other made the exhausting task fascinating, and even though I am very tired now, the experience taught a great lesson and gave a kind of relief.

Sanjeev Mainali, class of 2016

When I saw an email calling for volunteers for a cleaning operation in Kathmandu, I joined and headed to the temple near Thapathali that had been completely destroyed. We were altogether 13 volunteers from different organisations, on behalf of DWSWN. We picked up bricks that could be reused and piled them properly so they could be reused in future reconstruction. As a student I had never done such work before, and I felt happy to have helped clean my country's cultural heritage site.

Abhisek Khatiwada, class of 2018

Today, 3 May 2015, we went for a clean up mission. The temple area was totally destroyed, with only some monuments standing alone. We helped pick bricks from the temple and stack them aside while the Armed Police Force excavated the destroyed sections. Idols of gods were being taken out and secured while reporters captured the moment. We gathered as many bricks as we could and learned more about teamwork, leaving late with a promise to do more.

Prayush Shrestha, class of 2018

Nine days after the massive quake I decided to volunteer. We had planned to clean Gongabu and Balaju but instead went to Kalmochan temple at Thapathali, which was completely destroyed. Armed Police Force personnel and very few volunteers were removing items of archaeological importance. We arranged the remains of the temple, separating bricks and wood pillars that could be reused. It was hard work under the scorching sun, but it felt good to help the country in some way.