Nepal Project 2020 - It's Been Five Years

​TheoEco’s Steve Richards and daughter Bobbie went to Kathmandu in the fall of 2015 to assist with the earthquake relief efforts and document/video those efforts.  We are going back on January 14, 2020 (5th expedition) to revisit the places and people we met in 2015 and see how things are developing with the earthquake recovery - five years later.

Homes, monuments, temples and the like are still being rebuilt by homeowners and independent organizations like the Kathmandu Preservation Trust out of New York City. Our director Amit Nepali’s family rebuilt a temporary version of their home with no insurance and virtually no government assistance.  Not sure the building code is exactly up to spec but when you have 12 family members close to living in the streets during monsoons, you obviously get moving. This is the story we hear everywhere – people doing for themselves as we illustrate in our films: Piles of Bricks, The Flourishing Kathmandu Church, and our Nepal mini-docs.

For more see the VILLAGES mini-doc from our first visit in 2015 for a firsthand look at the conditions in the villages of Gorkha, Lele and others.

Piles of Bricks (Revisited) – For release in Spring 2020
Piles of Bricks (Revisited) is about the rebuilding efforts since our first Piles of Bricks film. In it we will document the current state of residential housing and other projects. We will go to Nepal's rural villages and interview citizens, businesspeople, and politicians - all to try to answer the big question: What happened to the $4 billion in aid and rebuilding funds the world pledged in 2015 for Nepal’s relief.

There were many surprises the first go-around during 2015, including a fuel shortage and Indian blockade. But the relationships we have built are more than worth the effort. While our documentaries are the most visible aspect of what TheoEco is doing, just as importantly is our research--including upcoming work related to Nepal’s water.

The National Theological College (NTC) on the outskirts of Kathmandu was perhaps the biggest mind-blower we experienced in the Fall of 2015. We knew there were Christians, but a seminary emerging from the devastation? However, there it was, home to 14 bright, energetic, devoted seminarians, most not born Christian. For more see our National Theological College mini-doc. Service and teaching opportunities are available.

Nepal’s Water
In Nepal’s Water, we are diving deep into the water situation of land-locked Nepal as it tackles global warming’s effects on its glaciers and weather patterns, as well as seeing how it deals with shortages of drinking water. We are also vitally interested in how hydro-power projects can make Nepal a shining example of renewable energy, as well as how the ecology of the region is being impacted. We have already begun shooting and are looking to release the film in 2020.

We will also add to other ongoing projects including Premika to YDS (we are still faithful) and Garima Nepal, a film about human trafficking. As always we will be partnering with the Anglicans and other Christians and groups in Nepal.

TheoEco also does all of its documentary editing at Amit Nepali's studio in Kathmandu where we are planning to edit two domestic films as part of Nepal 2020: Florida's Guns  and Bahamian Floods.

There’s a closeness between Americans and Nepalis—sort of like a good friend or family you haven’t seen for a long time. Maybe it’s the Bob Seger song Kathmandu, or Nepal’s perpetual underdog status squeezed between giants India and China, or even Mount Everest’s hold on our imaginations. Or, perhaps it is the legendary Gurkhas, the fierce Nepalese soldiers that have fought and died alongside American and Allied troops since World War I, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

Want to participate? You and your organization can sponsor shoots, serve, sightsee, and go with us to Nepal. For more go to our Nepal Trek page and contact us.

More to follow... 

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