Dave Noonan reflects on his experiences in Nepal

As the horror of the earthquake in Nepal continues to unfold, Heart 107.3’s breakfast announcer Dave Noonan reflects exclusively for radioinfo and asiaradiotoday on his time in Kathmandu and Pokhara over recent years and his fondness for its people.
 

My wife and I have been to Nepal for three incredible trips. We have been on three different treks and have spent a lot of time in both Kathmandu and Pokhara, areas, which have been hardest, hit by the massive quake.
 
We have been to Everest and can only imagine the horror at Base Camp and in the Khumbu Valley area. It is extremely remote and transport is by yak and foot apart from scarce helicopters. Rescues will be very difficult.
 
We worry about all the missing Australians but are equally concerned for all the Nepalese people so direly affected by this disaster.
 
The Nepalese people are extremely warm and generous of spirit but materially they are extremely poor. We have formed strong relationships with our Nepalese guide Dhanu and his family. Sadly he has lost brothers and a nephew, who we knew, through illness and disaster on Mt Everest. He is very stoic about the tragedies that have befallen him and his family.
 
Sadly illness, death and disaster are much more present in the everyday lives of Nepalese people than in comfortable Australia.
 
We return, and will again numerous times, because we love the people, the culture and the awe inspiring beauty and majesty of the Himalayas. We were very upset when we heard about the earthquake and have so far not heard from Dhanu via email. Communication is much more basic in Nepal than Australia and networks could be affected very easily.
 
The Nepalese economy is weak and their capacity to recover without international help is limited. We hope Australians will be generous in their support of Nepal.

 

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