Kathmandu When the catastrophic Gorkha Earthquake of 2015 hit the country, Nepali youths did an exemplary job of helping the quake survivors. Despite the continuous aftershocks post quake, many youths left their comfort zone and volunteered to help those in need. Among these young volunteers was Binita Buddhacharya. The MFA IInd Year student at Department of Fine Arts, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur considered herself “lucky to survive the quake”. A realisation struck her then that “I must help those in need in any way I can”. Cleaning the debris — created due to the collapse of buildings, temples and other structures during the quake — was the first thing that came to her mind. Together with her friends, she took an initiative to clean the areas around Basantapur and Swoyambhu among others. But after visiting different quake-affected places to clean those areas, she realised that her work had not made much impact. “I felt neither any community or me would be benefited by just cleaning different areas. Being an art student, I realised the need to get involved with the community to help them uplift their lifestyle, and also learn from them,” Buddhacharya explained. So, together with her four classmates, Buddhacharya decided to focus all her skill and energy in one community — Harisiddhi village of Lalitpur. They had seen the potentials of local women during one of their visits to Harisiddhi, for cleaning debris in a school damaged by the quake. “I was surprised by their weaving skill — they are really good at weaving straw mat and shoes,” said Buddhacharya. But these skilled manpower were not using their skill post earthquake. They seemed entirely dependent upon the relief materials and money distributed by the government, I/NGOs and other organisations, as per Buddhacharya. Nevertheless, her group ‘IV: Imaginative Virus’ revived their skill. Since then, these youngsters have not only motivated the local women to weave shoes and mats that they know, they have also taught them to weave other straw products. As these women were unable to weave anything else except for shoes and mats, “we (group) learnt to weave various straw items from these women and then trained them on weaving new items with their existing skills”. Now the local women can make gift items like key rings. And with the help of senior artists from South Korea, IV:Imaginative Virus has managed to export these products to South Korea. It is just one story of a quake volunteer. There are many young volunteers, who have channelised their energy to help those in need post quake. Padam Raj Awasthi, BBA-BI VIth Semester student at Ace Institute of Management, New Baneshwor is one of them. During the time of quake, he and his seven friends worked together with Nepal Army and Nepal Police to clean Durbar High School, Ranipokhari. They helped to build temporary shelter for the school. “I felt content to see the bright and hopeful eyes of school children when the construction of temporary shelter was complete,” he shared. That was the temporary work Awasthi did post quake. Now, he is raising funds for the reconstruction of different quake affected areas of the nation. Involved in fund raising programme is Nishant Khanal, BBA VIIth Semester student at Shanker Dev Campus, Putalisadak. His purpose is to construct a building of a primary school at Jyamire of Dhading district. The school building, where 120 students study, collapsed in the quake of April 2015. Khanal started his quake-related volunteer work from Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Maharajgunj. Volunteering in the hospital’s help desk, he helped in identification of the quake-victims, brought to the hospital by Nepal Police and Nepal Army. He was joined by other volunteers like Pratima Gyawali, BA LLB IVth Year student at Kathmandu School of Law, Bhaktapur. “There was a communication gap between the members of quake victims’ families and police/army personnel. It was creating a problem at the hospital. Working in the help desk, I used to collect the names of the victims who were able to speak. And I would help their relatives, who would come to the hospital to identify them (victims),” shared Gyawali. Khanal and Gyawali, both used to work as volunteers since their school days. But during this earthquake, they “saw the real pain of people and importance of helping others during such critical period”. They did what they could at that moment, but later they channelised their way of working as per their interest and expertise. A student of law, Gyawali these days is helping locals of Bhakundebesi, Kavrepalnchowk to remake their legal documents, which they lost during the earthquake. But Khanal has been using his management skills in various organisations as a volunteer. Alongside helping to raise funds for school, he has worked as a co-ordinator to donate relief materials at places like Rasuwa, Nuwakot, and Dhading. Though these youths were focused on Capital in the initial days post quake, these days they have mobilised themselves in places outside the Valley and in remote areas inside the Valley. The enthusiasm of these youngsters to help people in need has made Deepak Thapa, BBA Faculty Member at Ace Institute of Management hopeful for better future. “Those who volunteered during the time of crisis have become aware of people’s difficulties in such time. They understand the consequences of wrong decision at the time of crisis. These young students are the future of Nepal. Later on, if they reach the policy making levels, they can definitely work better than existing system of our government,” he expressed.