Nepal faced terrible crisis when the powerful earthquake of 7.8 magnitude on Richter Scale  hit the country on April 25th, 2015. This was the worst in last 80 years  which indicates how much this beautiful country would have lost in terms of  Lives lost, and livelihoods destroyed. Today, Nepal is in need of the international community?s support to rebuild affected areas and rehabilitate its people. Our Nepali brothers and sisters need us and our help the most in these crucial times. It would be highly selfish on our part if we don?t get up to support them.

Feeling this pain , I as President and Venkatesan Sundar as head of charity and humanitarian events , of youth community group ?Students for the Earth? , decided to launch a campaign it ?Nepal Quake Relief Drive?  to collect relief goods for quake hit Nepal.

We wanted to have collection of items which are actually needed the most and we wanted these to reach the needy in Nepal genuinely without any gaps in between so we decided to collect and give to Emirates Red Crescent, Dubai which is a well recognized organization always working for the needy and unfortunate ones.

We discussed the modalities and how we would carry on this campaign and put up the announcement poster on social media channels .We decided 2 drop off points –my home and Venkatesan?s home .

Announcement specified that food items should have at least 6 months expiry , ready to eat items preferred , clothes  not a priority  , blankets , tents , basic toiletries are the most needed items. We were very clear that we don?t want volunteers to come and dump their unwanted clothes  as that?s not going to do any good in tragic hit Nepal where people are homeless , are starving , lack basic necessities of life.

Soon after , members , non members , students and parents started contributing voluntarily by bringing various kinds of items like  rice , pulses , sugar , biscuits , rusks , cookies , blankets , bedsheets , basic toiletries (like tooth paste , tooth brush) , folding mattresses ,milk powder and what not?.We made it a practice to click the picture of volunteer giving his contribution and kept posting the same on our FB page which further spread the campaign and many more people started calling us to know the exact drop off points .

We were impressed with the overwhelming response and generous contributions from people all across Sharjah .  Volunteers did not hesitate to come even at midnight  to give their contribution as every one is feeling the pain of this devastating quake and wants to help whichever way possible.

Our campaign was for about a week .  When we saw variety of items collected in heaps , we felt the need to sort them and pack them in separate cartons. We approached a supermarket and another company ?Precision Exhaust? to get empty cartons. Both of them were very kind to agree and offer us cartons  to pack the goods. We got 60 flat carton material (flat sheets) from them.

Then we thought about logistic support . We needed a truck to pick these from our 2 homes/drop off points and transport them to Red Crescent in Dubai . I approached a transport company ?School Transport Services? and requested them for a truck, telling them about our relief drive. The manager was very impressed with our campaign and immediately agreed to support us with a truck. We appreciate their kind gesture too.

Then at the end of campaign , we sorted the entire collection into eatables , dry food items , drinks , bedsheets/mattresses/foldable bed/tents, basic toiletries (toothbrush , toothpaste ,soaps etc)  and started folding the carton sheets to make cartons and packed the entire segregated collection into cartons  We had total about 1.5 tons of material collected.

We got them loaded on to the truck  and went to  hand these over to Emirates Red Crescent ,  Dubai . They weighed the goods the next day , did their formalities and arranged for sending to Nepal.

This campaign was our way to  expresses our solidarity for Nepal and its people and stand committed by their side during such difficult times. We should help those who are affected by such fury of nature.

When few media came to know about it , they contacted me and asked about the details like how we initiated , how we transported , how much and what kinds we collected etc. They were impressed with such initiative by students group and wanted to publish it to inspire others and other groups to work on such cause to help Nepal.

Before giving details to media , we discussed within our group as we did not want to highlight or boast about our small efforts because that was not the intention. Our intention was genuine to help. We decided that we would let media cover it to encourage many more volunteers to come up , many more groups to organize such relief drives which will ultimately do good and provide help to Nepal.

Our campaign was published in "Gulf News" , "Emirates 24/7" , "Mathrubhumi" , "Boloemirates".

We extend our deepest condolences to the victims of the tragedy and sincerely hope that our support will contribute in ongoing relief work.

Below links where the campaign was published:

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/uae-school-kids-rush-help-for-quake-hit-nepal-2015-05-11-1.590323

http://boloemirates.com/besite/index.php/nepal-quake-relief-drive-by-students-for-the-earth-group/

http://gulfnews.com/your-say/your-reports/offering-a-helping-hand-to-nepal-quake-victims-1.1510085

http://gulfnews.com/your-say/your-reports

http://digitalpaper.mathrubhumi.com/c/5213262

http://www.dubaiprnetwork.com/pr.asp?pr=98777

http://www.godubai.com/citylife/press_release_page.asp?PR=98777&Sname=LifeStyle