Photo: Volunteers posing for a photograph                                                                                     Photo Courtesy: Rotaract Club of Hemja

On 29^th April, some of us went as a team to Bhaktapur to understand the needs of the victims there. We went there as part of Rotary Club. We were led by Suryaraj Timsina. All of us went as volunteers to distribute water. We were a team of 15 people consisting of DWIT students and volunteers.

While in Bhaktapur we distributed water to the locals. We went to the places in and around Bhaktapur Durbar Square. As we entered Bhaktapur Durbar Square we could clearly see the damage that the earthquake had caused. We were devastated to find the ancient heritage sites destroyed. We went to Vidyarthi Niketan Higher Secondary School, a place where the locals have taken up the refuge. There were kids who were staying there. Everyone seemed sad and wanted the nightmare to be over. We went to another school too but I could not see the name of the school. This is because the sign had been totally crushed. All of us had a sigh of relief that the earthquake had not come on a weekday. Imagine the children that could have lost their lives. People were also taking refuge in that school. We distributed water to both these places.

[caption id="attachment_6460" align="aligncenter" width="489"] A School Which is Almost Completely Destroyed[/caption] [caption id="attachment_6457" align="aligncenter" width="480"] A Collapsed Building in Bhaktapur[/caption]

After this, we went around Bhaktapur to access the damage and ask the locals what supplies we could bring the next time we come. We saw many damaged buildings. Locals told us that they were scared when the earthquake came because they had little time and even less space to run. They all were glad that they survived. We also saw the site where a four-month-old baby was trapped under rubble for 22 hours. That was truly a scary thing to hear.

Bhaktapur is a city that had many historical heritage sites and structures. We have lost many of them and also many lives have been lost there. We all need to help Bhaktapur revive and volunteers are always welcome there.