After living through two major earthquakes in Nepal of more than 7 magnitude, David Lees returned to Australia on 30th May 2015.
David has been working on the Melamchi Water Supply Project since July 2014 as a Senior Tunnelling Engineer. On April 25th a devastating earthquake hit the country, a second one occurred on May 12th and in between and after there have been many after shocks. The area in which the project lies Sindhupalchowk is the worst hit area and the community has suffered tremendously. Since the earthquake on 25th April David has been assisting the emergency response teams, coordinating road clearance with the local army major.
Over 90% of the houses in the area have been destroyed with over 2,000 dead, The country's death toll is over 10,000. Providing assistance after such a terrible disaster is difficult and presents an emotional as well as physical strain.
The contract that David has been working on has come to an end. "I love the country and I love the people and my heart has been broken."