Habitat For Humanity Of Metro Denver Won't Give Up In Nepal
DENVER (CBS4) - While Coloradans have been sending aid, another powerful earthquake caused more destruction and dozens of more deaths in Nepal. The 7.3 tremor is the second quake in three weeks. It rattled the areas where many aid workers had stationed to help out.
Since the first earthquake in Nepal last month people in Colorado have been trying to help out. Housing is one of the most vital needs, and one group in Denver has been helping and planning an ever bigger effort.
Just after the first quake Habitat for Humanity sent an emergency response team, but with another massive quake, the crew at the metro Denver chapter is working hard to get even more resources to Nepal, a place that has a tight bond to Colorado.
"Nepal is a very beautiful country, but it's also a very poor country, and a lot of that is reflected in substandard housing conditions and overcrowding," Robyn Burns with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver said.
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver didn't just start helping Nepal, they've been doing it for years.
"We have been a partner with Habitat for Humanity of Nepal since 2000, and since then we've invested more than $200,000 to help our Habitat for Humanity chapter there build homes," Burns said.
It's something Burns knows firsthand.
"We actually have had about 15 staff and board members travel to Habitat Nepal in the last few years," she said. "We had 500 volunteers from around the world and we built 50 homes in one week … these are simple homes that are constructed sustainable materials -- bamboo."
LINK: Ways To Help Nepal Earthquake Victims
Since the ground started to shake, volunteers have returned to Nepal. They've been assessing structures and determining safe conditions, made only harder by the most recent aftershock.
"They're also working on distributing 20,000 emergency shelter kits that include tarps and materials to house people in this interim period," Burns said.
Habitat International is planning an even bigger effort at the end of the year. Just after his 91st birthday Former President Jimmy Carter will head to Nepal for to help build more houses.
"Housing is a major issue in Nepal, and it was before the earthquake, but now even more so," Burns said.
CBS4 spoke with the head of the Rocky Mountain Friends of Nepal. He said he just can't believe the area has been hit again with a massive quake. He said people had started to rebuild and now they've been forced from their homes again. It's something Habitat for Human it certainly hopes to help with.
