A noble deed indeed

UoH for Nepal’ is an initiative by the students of the University of Hyderabad who took up the task of raising money and are personally going to Nepal in aiding relief work in the Techno village

The earthquake, which hit Nepal on April 25, has left many people in ruins. As part of the ‘UoH for Nepal’ initiative, students of University of Hyderabad collected over 5 lakh rupees for the relief aid of the victims. Vounteers, in collaboration with Hapa Pucha (a youth organisation) in Techno village, surveyed and analysed the situation at ground level to understand the extent of damage and concluded that housing was an area needed to be addressed.

People were staying in polythene covered tents in open spaces, which were vulnerable to even small amounts of rainfall. Addressing this issue, the initiative collected a total fund of R. 5,50,000 (Indian Rupees) equivalent to Rs 8,80,000 (Nepali rupees) and supplied corrugated galvanised (CGI) sheets to the victims to build temporary shelters that were sturdy enough to face monsoons.

A total of 230 households were provided relief aid. Though the material supplied by the volunteers was not enough to build the shelter completely, the initial support from other organisations (including government) providing relief enabled families to build it.

Sipoy Sarveswar, researcher from Department of Anthropology, UoH, shares, “The students explored all possible avenues to collect funds from different sections of the UoH fraternity namely students, teachers, non-teaching staff and even the personal contacts of family and friends of the students were approached for contributions.”

Explaining the nature raising funds, he shares, “They organised fund collection drives at public places such as, Shilparamam, DLF, Indra Nagar, to name a few. The students approached the public with innovative ideas like organising musical evening as a part of fund collection, where students played different musical instruments like flute and guitar to support the cause.”