UPDATE: 12 p.m., May 29, 2015
Dear Pitzer Community,
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake occurred today near Kathmandu at 09:59 local time. We are grateful that Pitzer in Nepal staff and families in Kathmandu and Simigaun report no additional damages.
I am pleased to report that gifts to the Support Pitzer in Nepal Relief Fund to date total $83,871.25. This figure clearly reflects a deep passion and concern for the country, its people and the longstanding and valuable Pitzer program there. Pitzer College appreciates every donor’s generosity.
All donated funds are being transferred to the College’s program account in Nepal and the Fund is closed. Pitzer in Nepal Director Margie Donahue and Director of Pitzer Programs and Intercultural Education Mike Donahue are using the funds to assist staff, host families and community partners with their immediate needs and shelter. Mike has reached the village of Simigaun safely and is working closely with our community partners. Future gifts may be sent directly to your selected host family or through a recognized relief agency of your preference.
Margie and Michael continue to provide updates regarding their efforts as time and opportunity allow. We will keep the community informed.
The April 2015 earthquake in Nepal, also known as the Gorkha earthquake, killed more than 8,800 people and injured more than 23,000. The natural disaster was the worst to strike Nepal since the 1934 earthquake. Hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless, and many villages are flattened.
Thank you again for your extraordinary Pitzer support. We deeply appreciate your caring and good wishes.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President for Study Abroad and International Programs
UPDATE: 10:40 a.m., May 12, 2015
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurred overnight 47 miles east of Kathmandu. The epicenter of the latest earthquake is near Simigaun and has produced numerous landslides throughout the area.
Pitzer in Nepal Director, Margie Donahue, reports that all staff and host families are safe in Balkot. Initial reports indicate that people in Simigaun are also okay.
According to Nepalese government spokesman Minendra Rijal, 48 people have died and another 1,261 have been injured in Nepal due to the latest large earthquake. Thirty-two of the Asian nation’s 75 districts were affected.
We are grateful for the outpouring of support for the victims of the earthquakes that have devastated areas of Nepal. The Ad Hoc Advisory Committee for Pitzer in Nepal Relief has met and is overseeing the transfer of funds to Nepal. The Committee members are actively in contact with each other and will be meeting again soon.
Thanks to everyone for your generous support.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President for Study Abroad and International Programs
UPDATE: 9:00 a.m., May 6, 2015
The Pitzer in Nepal students who returned to Claremont on Sunday night have proved very resilient in light of the tragic events they have experienced; their thoughts remain wholly focused on the well-being of their host families and the staff in Nepal. Study Abroad staff have been meeting regularly with them and are assisting with the students’ plans for returning home.
Mike Donahue and I are in contact with Margie Donahue, gathering information and assessing needs. We will share what we learn with all of you and with the Relief Fund Advisory Committee.
Thanks to everyone for your generous support.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President for Study Abroad and International Programs
UPDATE: 5:30 p.m., May 1, 2015
Pitzer in Nepal staff and families are assessing the extent of destruction to staff and family homes. This process will take time.
At my request, an Ad Hoc Advisory Committee for Pitzer in Nepal Relief has been formed.
The Ad Hoc Advisory Committee will focus on supporting Program Director, Margie Donahue, and helping determine the most effective means to support the program staff and families. Committee members include the following individuals:
Adrian Stevens, Chair
Vice President of Advancement
Yuet Lee
Vice President for Administration / Treasurer
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President for Study Abroad and International Programs
Margie Donahue
Program Director, Pitzer in Nepal
Mike Donahue
Director of Pitzer Programs and Intercultural Education
This committee has been established to work closely with Margie Donahue in Nepal to assist with assessment, evaluation, and allocation of funds raised.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President for Study Abroad and International Programs
UPDATE: 9 a.m., April 30, 2015
Dear Pitzer Community,
Margie Donahue confirms that all students are now en route home. One student is back in Hong Kong; a second is currently en route to the US. The main group arrived in Bangkok a few hours ago. In order to leave Kathmandu as early as possible, they are obliged to stay in Bangkok three nights. The college has reserved hotel rooms for the group.
They will depart Bangkok on Sunday and arrive LAX on Sunday evening. Mike Donahue and I will meet them at the airport. 3 or 4 of them will be transferring to domestic flights home.
The main group will return to Claremont on Sunday evening. I ask that that everyone give the group as much space as they need to come to terms with the traumatic experiences they have witnessed.
The Office of Study Abroad will facilitate reentry discussions and ensure additional support through Monsour and Student Affairs.
Tomorrow, after well-earned rest, Margie will finally get to go out to her apartment and see what damage was done. She had enough energy to pay another tribute to her staff; I gather all kitchen staff lost their homes but yet were committed to ensuring the students were well-fed and watered.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President, International Programs and Study Abroad
UPDATE: 8:30 a.m., April 29
Dear Pitzer Community,
Over the past several days, we have received many queries of concern and support for our students, Nepali friends, host families, and Pitzer in Nepal staff. Several of these inquiries have specifically asked about our longtime Pitzer in Nepal Director, Margie Donahue.
Margie has been with the students since the onset of these devastating earthquakes, organizing shelter and food for our students, calming any rattled nerves and, most importantly, staying in constant contact with study abroad staff in Kathmandu and California. I know for a fact that Margie did not sleep for the first 2 days, ensuring the well-being of the group. I am sure you can imagine how reassuring it is for us back in Claremont to be able to report on a regular basis that all students and staff continue to do very well. In focusing on the well-being of her student group and staff, she has not had the luxury of mourning the devastation of her adopted country, nor been able to think of the most mundane things such as the state of her apartment, which most likely has been badly damaged.
I wanted to take this opportunity to pause and acknowledge the extraordinary work carried out by Margie Donahue. In order to assist her now and in the coming weeks, please send any queries regarding the Nepal crisis to [email protected]. Not only will this help us to direct your queries to the appropriate office, it will also reduce the overwhelming amount of emails, many with notes of well wishes and thanks, to Margie’s inbox. We will compile your well wishes to Margie into a volume of appreciation to be presented to her at a later date. We will also try to respond to individual queries regarding Nepali friends, host families etc. whenever possible, but please be patient as Margie and our program staff in Balkot gather information.
I know you all willingly join me in sending Margie, and indeed all our Nepal friends, our thanks and sincere best wishes in these tragic times.
Best,
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President, International Programs and Study Abroad
UPDATE: 12:30 p.m., April 27
Dear Pitzer Community,
Pitzer students and staff have departed the devastated village of Simigaun in Nepal and have returned to the program house in Balkot, which is in the Kathmandu Valley. The Nepalese military have gone to great effort to transport our Pitzer people by helicopter, as roads were impassable due to landslides.
Our 13 students are resting comfortably. They are in good health and have been able to contact their parents. We have supplies of water, food, cooking fuel and tents. Everyone is sleeping in tents in a nearby field where we have also set up a temporary kitchen. Our students are waiting for the next available international flight to the United States.
My sincerest gratitude to Margie Donahue, Nepal Program Director and the Study Abroad staff, Michael Ballagh, Associate Vice President, and Mike Donahue, Director of Programs, and senior Nepalese military staff for arranging for the safe passage of our students and staff.
Upon our students’ return they will be debriefed by Study Abroad staff, provided with counseling and arrangements will be made for them to complete their academic credits. In the interest of providing vital closure on the Nepal side, Margie Donohue has arranged for students to visit their host families in the Balkot area prior to their departure.
Our thoughts are with our dear Nepali friends as they face terrible challenges in the aftermath of this awful disaster. Adrian Stevens will be sending information very soon about how to donate to the Nepal Program. I have included some links for non-profit direct Nepal relief organizations.
Sincerely,
Laura Skandera Trombley
President
UPDATE: 9 a.m., April 27
Dear Pitzer Community,
Our program director in Nepal, Margie Donahue, reports that the students are all doing very well. They had a scare Sunday afternoon when there was a large aftershock, but everyone has settled down now and the students are feeling very comfortable. Margie has done a thorough assessment of the situation in the area, checking with numerous local villagers, and concludes that she is sure that the group is in the absolute safest place to be while waiting for evacuation to Kathmandu. There is plenty of water and food, and the students and villagers have good shelter from the elements in their temporary shelters called “goths,” which each family has set up in nearby fields. The goths are quite cozy with a fire for cooking and warmth, and plenty of good conversation as villagers drop in to support each other.
The best course of action is to move forward with an evacuation to Kathmandu and from there, back to the States. In order to facilitate this, we continue to work closely with the international assistance agency, Red 24, as well as local contacts and the US Embassy, and will update the community as soon as a plan is in place. Given the understandable priority of the Nepal government to earmark helicopters for transporting injured people in remote areas to hospitals, it is difficult to set a firm timeline for when this might happen.
At this point, because of the uncertainty of the helicopter schedule, we are unable to arrange international flights, but the airport is open, and flights are coming and going. Our travel agent is looking into flights and will be ready to make confirmations as soon as he knows when the students will be arriving in Kathmandu. If it is necessary to stay a day or two in Kathmandu, Bhuwan, Pitzer’s program assistant back at the home base in Balkot, has confirmed that Balkot is ready to welcome the students. There are plentiful supplies of water (we have our own well) and food and fuel for cooking. We also have multiple tents; students would sleep in tents in the field by the program house. We will not enter the program house until we have had it checked out by an engineer.
We understand that the uncertainty about when students will be evacuated is challenging, but again, we assure you the students are currently in a safe place, our staff is committed to their well-being, and the villagers of Simigaun are taking excellent care of everyone.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President, International Programs and Study Abroad
UPDATE: 9:40 a.m., April 26
The Office of Study Abroad received reports overnight from Margie Donahue that aftershocks from yesterday’s devastating earthquake continue to affect Simigau and the region.
Due to damage to cell telephone infrastructure, communications with Margie Donahue are infrequent. She confirms that the students are doing themselves proud both in their resilience and in their concern for Nepali communities devastated by the earthquake.
All Pitzer program participants are safe. Program leadership is implementing evacuation planning with the goal of returning all participants to the United States. We are awaiting confirmation of next steps and will keep you informed.
On a related note, we have been receiving heart-warming notes of concern, and multiple queries from Pitzer in Nepal program alumni concerned about the well-being of program participants and their former host families. We appreciate your patience in this regard, as we are still learning about the situation with our host families.
While we are focused on a smooth evacuation process for all our Pitzer people, our thoughts and prayers remain for those in Nepal impacted by this disaster.
Michael Ballagh
Associate Vice President, International Programs and Study Abroad
Update: April 25
Dear Pitzer Community,
As many of you possibly know by now, Nepal experienced a devastating earthquake on Saturday, April 25, 2015. First and foremost, let me confirm that all Pitzer students and staff are safe and well. The group is currently on their rural stay in the village of Simigaun – a community which has hosted Pitzer students for close to thirty years.
While everyone is fine, the village itself was devastated by the earthquake and most of the housing has been leveled. The students and the village community have plenty of food, water and blankets, and temperatures are very mild at this time of year.
The Office of Study Abroad has been able to speak with the director, Margie Donahue, who is with the student group. All participants are doing fine but obviously are very concerned about the larger impacts on Nepali communities and the implications for their host families.
All program participant parents and related study abroad offices were notified early this morning about the situation, and were deeply relieved that the program in Nepal was able to confirm the students’ well being within hours of the event.
The Office of Study Abroad has also been in close communication with Red24, the agency that assists us in cases of severe crises abroad. Red24 has been in direct contact with the program staff on site and it was determined that given the ongoing aftershocks, which may last another day, the group will stay the night at Simigaun and in the interim develop plans for evacuation when feasible. The international airport is open although many interior roads are blocked.
We will update you further as soon as we have additional news.
Our thoughts are with our Nepali friends as they face the aftermath of this devastating disaster.
Sincerely,
Laura Skandera Trombley
President
For additional information, contact:
Office of Study Abroad and International Programs
Pitzer College
[email protected]
Students in need of support should contact the Student Affairs on-call professional by calling Campus Safety at (909) 607-2000.
