As of last check everyones family and friends are fine. Which is a great relief. If you have been following the blog and you know about my stay at the commuting hospital in Raxual during our activity week. Duncan Community Hospital was impacted by the earthquake as they are situation right on the boarder of Nepal. I got in touch with the head doctor and all are well and safe.
A year ago the pictures of the affected area would have certainly been emotional, as it shows the suffering and heroics of a natural catastrophe. Having spent the last year in this area, this earthquake is also noticeably different to me.
If I had still been in the States, the places and the people would have looked different enough from me that it would still seem very foreign. The people I see in the pictures are friends I have on staff, the students I teach, the shopkeepers I do business with, the people I pass on the street, the people I have met in this past incredible year. They aren't in some distance land in a time and place far away, but its very here and now.
I wrote the hospital I stayed at in Raxual, worried about what might be their situation. Wondering if buildings had come down, or perhaps they were overwhelmed with the injured. Fearing that any impact on the hospital would have ripples throughout the community. It hasn't been since 9/11 that I had a personal connection with an affected area.
While I wasn't in Raxual for long, the connections that I made were pretty profound. It was a deeply moving visit, and I just ask of you to keep those in Nepal, India and Bhutan who are affected in your thoughts and prayers.