Hello, I am Pasang Bhuti.

I was born in Langtang.

I am the eldest of seven children and we lived together in a small typical traditional Tibetan house. Langtang was small, with no more than 400 inhabitants, but with an extraordinary beauty It is a region in the Himalayas of Nepal to the North of the Kathmandu Valley and bordering Tibet. It was a beautiful trekking destination of one day by bus and 2 days walking from Kathmandu through an amazing trail along the Langtang river and viewing the smiling mountains of more than 6,000 meters. It was the first place to be declared national park in Nepal in 1971. My family lives there since almost 200 years ago when my ancestors crossed the border from Tibet fleeing genocide and received the name of Tamang. My parents cultivated the land and I looked after our animals with my sister Dechen. We got up very early to break the ice to have water to drink and cook. My sister loved drinking milk directly form the yak and more than once she got kicked.

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The turists in Langtang

Langtang has always been a transit point for tourists in love with the mountains. Since I was really little I always had a good relationship with them, they treated me fondly and helped my family. At night we used to get into their sleeping bags when they got up to do a wee. Now we have covers, but at that time we all slept on the floor with my dad's jacket pretending not to be cold. We also used to put his boots on to play for a bit. I've always felt very close to them. That is how, when I was 8, I met Thea and Peter, the German couple who sponsored me for the next 11 years until I finished my higher education studies. Thanks to them, not only was I able to study, but they also helped my dad when he had to have urgent surgery. Thea was like a second mother to me and always helped me with my problems while I grew up. Like me, many children of the village got sponsored to study in Kathmandu and many tourists were a great help to the Tibetan families of Langtang. Strong bonds were formed during many years.

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Valen

In Langtang I also met my husband. he stayed only one day at my family's homestay and we exchanged e-mails. The year after he came back and we got married in Nepal, and a year after, due to the bureaucracy of the Spanish embassy in Delhi, we had to get married again in Spain. We have already been together three years in Spain and we visit Nepal as often as we can. Although we are happy, I always miss my family.

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The children of Langtang

Every holiday the children go back to the village to be with their parents as most of them don't see them all year. There they learn their Bhuddist traditions and remember the way of living in the old days. They also help their parents with the tourists and play with their friends , who they often don't see all year either.

All my life is related to my village. We all knew each other well, as I have said it is very small, but very pretty.

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The avalanche

On 25 April everything changed. That day my village was devastated by an avalanche of snow and rocks as big as a house after an earthquake made the whole of Nepal shake. The mountain broke and let all the snow accumulated during the winter, which had been much harder than other years, fall. A survivor explains how they left their houses when they felt the first big tremor and how before it finished an immense wave ended all.

The day before there was Ghyawa in Langtang. It is a ritual celebration we do 49 days after the death of a loved one. Many people from other villages come and the lamas help the spirit find his way and we say our final goodbyes. During the day we pray and at night we dance. The day after many people stayed to help clean the village and the children took advantage of their last days of holidays before going back to school. But that day, Langtang Lirung (7,246 meters) took more than 200 lives only in Langtang, both local people and tourists.

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The missing and the survivors

Among those people was my mum Tsering Mendo. I love you with all my heart and I never thought I would leave Nepal without your hugs... Although I know you will always be with me, right now I feel lost and I feel I need to do something so you feel proud of me. The killer avalanche nearly took my dad and little brother too, but luckily as they explained to us after, they were already going down to Kathmandu so that Karpu could start his classes. That saved them, but they still had to run from one place to another during five days, looking for a safe place to stay, helping the wounded ... until they were rescued. They have seen things nobody should see and even less a ten year old boy.

They both arrived at Kathmandu 30 April, 6 days after the earthquake. Nima took a helicopter from Kengin Gompa and Karpu ran from Dunche to Trisuli during seven hours and then took a bus to Kathmandu, where we were surprised to see them for the first time safe and sound! How happy we were! And at the same time how sad as it was so hard to hear from our own dad so directly that our mother had really died. We still hoped she was among the survivors and hadn't been able to communicate yet... That night we all slept together at the improvised campsite under plastic and bamboo where they all sleep since the tremor for fear that something happens again in the houses.

Today, 15 days after the earthquake, Nepal keeps shaking and the tremors can still be felt. The week after the tragedy injured people kept arriving from the valley of Langtang to the hospitals, where they were treated for horrific injuries and fractures that the rain of rocks had provoked them when they were fleeing. Some on their face and head, others on their chest and ribs, many with fractured legs that will leave them, in many cases, without walking. Many are in a state of shock and still can't talk about what happened... Besides my mum, I have also lost my granny Seng Sangmo, my auntie Lakpa and 19 family members more…

There were only five survivors under the ruins of Langtang.

All the other survivors weren't in the village at the time of the avalanche. Many were in fields or nearby villages, or in Kathmandu, and that is why their lives have been saved. But they have all lost someone. The village has disappeared and 50% of the villagers have disappeared with it.

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The refugees

Finally 148 native people form Langtang have survived. A few are staying with family members who already lived at Kathmandu, but most have been taken in by Tibetan monks in the gardens of the Yelow Gumpa monastery in Suayhambunath under a big canopy and tents. Sometimes they receive medical visits, food and water, but the sanitary conditions are poor and there are already ill people and most of them have diarrhoea. There is no hygiene nor bathrooms where to have a shower, only a few latrines for many people… I don't know how long they will be able to stay there and soon the rainy season will arrive. The Monsoon will increase the possibility to catch diseases and it will become very difficult to camp outdoors. Who knows how the situation will evolve, but we don't think the government of Nepal will help those people directly, because they would have already done so.

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Returning to Langtang

What we do know is that most survivors want to go back to Langtang. Many of them had never gone down to the city and they don't know nor want to stay there. It will depend on people's charity. They want to go back to their village, reconstruct their houses and go back to their lives in the countryside with their vegetables and animals. And when the tourists start coming back, which I'm sure they will, offer them the best as always and re-establish the bonds that have joined them for so long. The hospitality of the Tibetan people is known by all who have shared time with them.

They only need some help to overcome such a difficult situation. They are people with a strong character, fighters, that will come out of this and if we can help them we shouldn't let go of the opportunity to do so. Because many people around the world write to me on Facebook and want to help us. People with whom I have kept a friendship since they were with us in Langtang, but also many who I haven't met directly but I have felt very close to for their words... For all this, we have done this website. To remember the missing and get help for the people fighting to survive. Many thanks to all.