This is the story Shadab sent us last night. He has visited some of the destroyed villages and helped out about 30 families. Shadab Khan is a student from India who currently studies medicine in Nepal. Read his story.

For a person who’s been residing in Nepal for the past four years, I was ironically across the border in India when the earthquake struck. Since we were relatively far off the epicentre of the quake, my initial assessment was that it was only a mild tremor that Nepal and this area in general is subjected to from time to time, due to it’s location above the seismically active tectonic plates. I don’t think i’ll ever make a more inaccurate judgement ever. The first signs of a major disaster having happened was when i crossed the border back into Nepal and i received a call from my folks back home who were in a state of total hysteria. As soon as i hung up on them, my screen beamed again to show my sister calling from Pittsburgh. It was 2pm in the afternoon here, she should be fast asleep by all rights. I assured her too, but something was amiss; it was obvious by the tone of voices around me. soon enough telephones lines began to jam and vehicles began piling up on the roads as people rushed to watch the news on television in nearby shops or to discuss in general with anyone who had something to say. The magnitude of the tragedy was lost on nobody by then and this was only the beginning.