Nepal aid

A Spokane woman’s chance encounter with a Nepalese man more than 30 years ago not only helped her found a thriving business here, it also helped bring needed relief to villages in Nepal after a devastating earthquake last year.

Section:Gallery

Sun., Aug. 14, 2016

Gopal Karki shows off his Solarpuff, a collapsible solar powered light. The Conscious Connections Foundation, a Spokane nonprofit, provided these solar powered lights to several Nepalese villages following the 2015 earthquake.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
The abandoned village of Haku sits next to the remnants of its rice paddies. The 2015 earthquake triggered massive landslides that destroyed homes and farmland and killed more than 8,000 people. The surviving residents of Haku now live in a government-built refugee camp. The Spokane nonprofit Conscious Connections Foundations distributed food to the camp in May.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
A woman watches as a truck navigates a muddy Nepalese road. During monsoon season, transporting food and other supplies can be difficult, if not impossible.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Pradeep Karki grimaces in pain as a doctor treats a cut on his foot. Karki cut his foot badly navigating a landslide caused by heavy monsoon rains. Karki, 18, is training to be a guide like his father, Ram Karki. After the 2015 earthquake Pradeep delivered food and supplies purchased by Conscious Connections Foundation, a Spokane nonprofit, to remote villages. Pradeep said it was too dangerous for both him and his father to go, so instead Ram stayed in Kathmandu so he could help if anything went wrong. The road was very dangerous and the trail was no good, Pradeep said.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Ganesh Bhadur Basnet, left, tells Ram Karki about the difficulties he’s faced since the 2015 earthquake. Basnet borrowed money from a friend to rebuild his home, expecting the government to reimburse him. However, more than a year later he hasn’t received anything and is struggling to pay his debt. “If I return back that loan, I feel light,” he said. “Now, I feel weight.”

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
A villager stands on the roof of a partially constructed Buddhist monastery in Thuman village. Most of Thuman’s 315 stone buildings were leveled during the 2015 earthquake. The Spokane nonprofit Conscious Connections Foundation distributed hats and jackets to the village last winter.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Pradeep Karki, left, Ram Karki and Gopal Karki talk about farming in the village of Kattike. Just 10 days after the 2015 earthquake, Pradeep Karki was able to deliver hundreds of pounds of food to Kattike and other villages. The money for the food was provided by Conscious Connections Foundation, a Spokane nonprofit.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Ram Karki repacks a trekking backpack while the porter, Ramesh Thapa, sleeps after vomiting all night. Although the yearly monsoon rains are vital for growing rice, they also bring disease and often make roads impassable.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Villagers lay the foundation stones for a new home in Thuman. Thuman was almost completely destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. A year later they have nearly rebuilt, thanks in part to aid provided by the Spokane nonprofit Conscious Connections Foundation.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Ram Karki walks through the village of Ghatlang. Karki has been guiding groups through Nepal’s mountains for more than 40 years. His knowledge and connections in remote, hard-to-access villages helped the Spokane-based nonprofit Conscious Connections Foundation deliver badly needed food and supplies quickly while many larger aid organizations were mired in red tape following the 2015 earthquake.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Denise Attwood, left, sits next to Ram Karki for a photo during Attwood’s first trip to Nepal in 1984. The friendship Attwood and Karki developed over the decades allowed Attwood’s nonprofit, Conscious Connections Foundation, to get food and other supplies to remote villages immediately after the 2015 earthquake.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Pradeep Karki shows off his Spokane shirt at his home in Kathmandu, Nepal. In 1984, Ram Karki, Pradeep’s father, became friends with Denise Attwood, an American woman. The friendship has lasted and Pradeep thinks of Attwood as a second mother. She brings him gifts and is paying for his schooling.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo
Ram Karki, left, and his son Pradeep Karki stand on the shore of a small lake in Nepal near the village of Ghatlang. Ram Karki, who has been guiding in Nepal’s mountains for more than 40 years, became friends with Denise Attwood, a Spokane woman, in 1984. Their friendship allowed Attwood’s nonprofit, Conscious Connections Foundation, to get food and other supplies to remote villages immediately after the 2015 earthquake, while other larger aid organizations were mired in red tape. Pradeep, who is training to be a guide like his father, was distributing hundreds of pounds of food to some of the most remote villages 10 days after the quake.

Eli Francovich The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo