Helping Nepal Producers

As many of you know we at Shared Earth buy from several suppliers in Nepal, who have been out of touch over the last few days due to power failures. We have now had word from all of them, and they are OK, though some artisan groups are yet to be contacted. There is huge damage to infrastructure, many people are still out on the streets afraid to go inside, and the rebuilding process will take many months.

Arati from Folk Nepal describes the situation on the ground:

"Dear All, Greetings from Folk Nepal!First of all, I would like to thank you all for your concern and your great words of consolation. In the situation like this, your words are of much helpful to recover or to soothe the pain that we have seen in this past three days.I, including my family members, folk Nepal staffs and factory staffs are safe. We have not reached to most of the producer’s group yet, so slowly we will be updating you about their situation. We still have not got contacted with two of our garment staff but we hope that they are fine wherever they are. Country’s situation is worst. After the massive hit of earthquake on last Saturday, we are disconnected from internet, telephone line and electricity for three days. Still the networks are not working properly. So, we could not reply your concern immediately. All the shops, offices and banks were closed and life was too difficult and miserable. Almost all people left their home and are staying in open areas, roads and parks. Some got tents to hide their heads however some are living very miserably. Some are getting food to eat however some are still hungry. In addition, the weather of Nepal is not good now. There is wind and water, making the life more miserable. All the people are terrified and shaken with this natural disaster. After the big hit, we have been feeling lots of small and big shocks till date and because of this, we still could not go inside our home. Now, there is a prediction for big damage of lives still in Nepal. There is a prediction for shortage of food, fuel and livestock. There is a prediction of big flu and cholera in the air because people are living in very unhygienic way. Prices have already gone up in many shops though government has asked not to black market the stock products. Still there are rumours that there will be a big earthquake and all the people have big fear inside them. Many people have become homeless. Many people have died already and still the numbers are growing. Today is the fourth day of the disaster and till this date, only some shops, banks and offices are opened. We, at Folk Nepal, also re-starting from tomorrow. We would like to apologize to those customers whose shipment order and samples were very urgent and was in queue to dispatch. We will be updating to you all, once we are back in our track again slowly. Once again, we are very grateful to you all. We would like to thank all those who show their helping hands in this disastrous situation. In this time, we would like to ask for any kind of support , you can do to Folk Nepal so that Folk Nepal could also look after their producers and staffs and those who are in need. Thank you once again! With regards, Arati."

Many charities are on the ground helping already, but for those of you who wish to help the artisans that make our products specifically, and the communities they work with, you can make a donation via this page. The money will be sent to Folk Nepal to be distributed. Folk Nepal is already providing relief to some of the most remote villages where help is needed most, and other Fair Trade organizations are deeply involved in the rebuilding process for communities which have been badly affected by the earthquake.

Update (12.05.15): Folk Nepal will now be channelling the money through Fair Trade Group Nepal, which has 20 members and works with hundreds of thousands of the poorest people throughout Nepal.

(donations paid into Shared Earth’s paypal account adminstered by Sara Collins (our designer))