Buninyong man Graeme Kent has been visiting the country for 15 years and his charity Aussie Action Abroad has built schools and provided health education in Nepal’s Lamjung district. 

“I spoke to a guy last night in one of our villages, where people are still sleeping outside because of aftershocks,” he said. 

“There’s damage throughout the village. A lot of them are very poor, very isolated.” 

Mr Kent spoke to a principal near Khudi, which he said had escaped major destruction. 

He said some of the schools the charity had worked on had been damaged, so a priority would be getting in and fixing them up once the country was open to travellers again. 

“We will now ramp up our work to take volunteers in when it’s appropriate, and take donations when we can.”  

Aussie Action Abroad will come in as a secondary relief organisation – helping with the rebuild – once the major aid organisations have been through. 

Mr Kent said giving money was the best way to help because it allowed people to put money into Nepali businesses. 

Supporting Mr Kent’s work are Ballarat Nepali women Shruti Shrestha and Roshani Kattel. 

The women’s immediate families were unhurt in the earthquake, but still have to cope with tough circumstances in Kathmandu and elsewhere. 

Ms Kattel said the number of deaths was shocking, and that much of Nepal’s history had been lost in the destruction. 

“These buildings, the palaces and squares, are from up to 800 years ago,” she said. 

Ms Shrestha said: “We used to go around (these squares) every day.” 

Mr Kent – known as ‘‘grandfather’’ in the Nepali community here – said he would work with other NGOs and Nepali organisations to best use any donated money. 

Aussie Action Abroad’s Facebook page has the latest information on the charity’s plans, and donations can  be made to the following bank account: BSB 06 3502, account number 1088 7607. It is a registered charity and donations are tax-deductible.

alex.hamer@fairfaxmedia.com.au