Nepalese student leaves family in quake zone to study in NZ

Nepalese student leaves family in quake zone to study in New Zealand

Like many international students, Yagya Raj Panta faced a whirlwind of emotions when he decided to come to New Zealand and study at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Education and Social Work.

Not only was his journey from his native Nepal thwart with the sadness of leaving his wife, Bimala, and 14-year-old daughter Garima behind, but he had to leave them in a country rocked by a succession of large earthquakes.

Yagya was due to leave the country in the evening on the day the first earthquake struck. It was 25 April and he was in a shop when the whole building starting shaking. He was caught in the devastating 7.9m earthquake which killed more than 9,000 people and injured more than 23,000. He fled the shop and ran back to his home in the village of Imadol Lalitpur near Kathmandu.

“I was thinking about my wife and daughter who were alone at home. I saw everything shaking, people were crying, some old people crying from the windows, the flower pots from the roof were falling down, water tanks in the roof were falling down. I was just thinking about my family and I asked God to take care of our people.

“I ran towards my home, however the road was blocked. Most of the walls had fallen on the road, I want to see my wife and daughter first; I didn’t know how I ran through this damaged road and reached to my home. I remember I saw the people including children gathered in open space and crying and asking God to save them.”

Within a few minutes he found his wife and daughter standing outside with their neighbours. But he faced a terrible decision; his flight was leaving at 11.30pm that night. His student visa would be invalid if he did not make it to New Zealand by 28 April. So in the end he was forced to leave his wife and his daughter in a temporary outside shelter and take a harrowing taxi ride to the airport.

As fate would have it, he got to the airport, only to find his flight was cancelled. With mobile phone services still down, he started the arduous taxi journey back to his village to find his wife and daughter who thought he was on a plane to New Zealand.

They had an emotional reunion later that night before they all settled down in temporary shelter in the field near their house.

“The rain made staying in the shelter difficult. Families cooked together and we took in friends to look after. We stayed in a tent for three days and continued to be fearful, especially during the aftershocks.”

Sadly, Yagya had to eventually leave his wife and daughter a few weeks later. They are now staying with family outside the worst quake areas but he is hoping they can join him in Auckland during his studies.

The quake also affected Yagya’s studies. He is now studying for his PhD at the University’s Faculty of Education and Social Work but has changed the topic to schools’ preparedness in a disaster. He will focus on the situation in Nepal but also study schools affected by the Christchurch earthquake.

“I am optimistic that the study will be more relevant and practical now and help schools in Nepal and New Zealand.”

ends

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