Wake Forest students sell photos to contribute to Nepal relief efforts
It’s only been a week since a 7.8-Magnitude earthquake devastated Nepal on April 25, but college students across America have already begun rallying to the country’s aid.
Wake Forest University senior Kristi Chan, who spent last summer trekking through Nepal as part of a photojournalism project, heard about the disaster when she woke up Saturday morning.
She remembers immediately looking at the photos of the Nepali women she’d grown close to during her trip on the wall in her room.
“I was looking at the pictures from my bed, wondering if these women I love are okay,” Chan says. “I didn’t know what to do.”
After talking with a few students who’d studied abroad in Nepal at the same time she was there, Chan decided to use the photos she’d taken for her project to raise money for the earthquake relief efforts. She and several other students will be selling them on campus at $5 apiece. Just 1 U.S. dollar translates to $10 of relief in Nepali currency (rupee).
“Rupees can go a long way,” says senior Claire Lockman, who did research in Nepal in 2013 and is helping with the effort. “Everything you pay for in America is worth more there.”
Senior Alisha Giri, who is from a Nepali village near where the epicenter of the earthquake hit, appreciates the support her classmates have shown over the past few days.
“We’re starting finals week, and the photo-selling has blossomed from an idea into a full-blown project at such short notice,” she says. “Everyone has contributed their time even during this busy week to help out and make this come to life. It’s heartwarming to see.”
People not on Wake Forest’s campus who want to help can visit Chan’s online photo gallery, where many of her prints from Nepal are on display for viewing and purchase. Proceeds from online and on campus sales will go to the International Commission for Dalit Rights and the Nepali Save the Children Fund.
“I am impressed with their vision and organization,” says Steve Folmar, an associate professor of anthropology at Wake Forest who has led the university’s summer program in Nepal for more than ten years. “In less than a week, they have raised hundreds of dollars and reached thousands of ears.”
So what else can students do to help?
Chan says donations can make a major impact, especially in rural communities.
“A lot of roads are damaged or washed out,” she says. “People affected there are having hard time getting immediate supplies they need.”
In addition to helping their peers with the photo-selling project, Giri and her brother Alish, a sophomore at Wake Forest, have started a GoFundMe page for their father, who is leading on the ground efforts in Nepal with a response team.
Donations to major organizations like American Red Cross and the America Nepal Medical Foundation are also good options, Giri says.
“Other students can definitely raise awareness and funds from their own networks to contribute anything possible,” she says. “Any amount goes a long way.”
Brooke Metz is a student at Wake Forest University and was a fall 2014 Collegiate Correspondent.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.