It was year ago today, on the 25th April 2015 at 11.56 NST, that a devastating 7.8m earthquake struck Nepal. The quake originated from 15km below the surface, which is considered shallow and far more damaging than a quake that starts from deeper in within the ground. It was so powerful that it actually moved Mount Everest an inch. So you can only imagine the impact it had on the mud and stone houses of the himalayan villages and the ancient, poorly maintained architecture of Kathmandu.
A year on, many villages and countless buildings in Kathmandu and surroundings towns still lie in rubble. With almost all of the international aid earmarked for victims, still yet to reach them due to a government paralysed by corruption and political game playing. Instead it has been left to the Nepalese people themselves with stalwart resolve and incredible resilience to quite literally pick up the pieces of their broken lives and start over. With the help of small local and international NGO's like The Big Umbrella and their Rebuild Nepal project they're doing just that.
I spent the anniversary (as per the Nepali calendar) with a team from TBU in the very remote (think hours long white knuckle drive up a precipitous, very narrow mountain road with hairpin turns) Himalayan village of Batase, Sindhupalchowk, the hardest hit of Nepal's 75 districts. Remembering those who were lost but also celebrating their lives and all the progress they have made in their honour in the year that has passed.