By SAMANTHA PAK,
spak@redmondreporter.com

It’s been more than two months since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, but there is still work to be done for Renton resident Danu Sherpa.

When he first learned about the earthquake on April 25, Sherpa caught a flight to return to his home country that same evening. He had received a phone call telling him that seven people he knew — including some family members — had died in the earthquake.

The 44-year-old City of Redmond employee helped with relief efforts during a month and a half long trip to Nepal — both for his family and others whose homes were destroyed by the earthquakes (a 6.7-magnitude aftershock hit April 26 and smaller-scale quakes of 3.5- and 4.5-magnitude hit Katmandu, Nepal on an almost daily basis). People were in need of shelter, water, food, clothing, blankets and more.

“All I see is destruction,” Sherpa said, recalling what he witnessed in Katmandu, where his relatives live. “It broke my heart. I was very saddened.”

Despite his heavy heart, Sherpa said he did not cry because he knew he had to be strong. He added that he felt blessed to be able to help as many people as he did in Nepal.

While Sherpa spent most of his time in Katmandu, he said he traveled to a remote village near Mt. Everest where one of his sisters lived. On his way to the village, he saw many homes that were destroyed in the earthquakes. Sherpa said as he passed these homes, he would give the families who had lived there about $150 each to help them. The money was raised from an online fundraising website at www.gofundme.com/dollarsfordanu.

After about seven weeks in Nepal, Sherpa returned to the Pacific Northwest last month — returning to his job with the Redmond Parks and Recreation Department on June 17. And while he is back, Sherpa is not done helping.

He said he is still working to raise money to support relief efforts in Nepal.

This time Sherpa hopes to raise funds to build a school for 100 children in Katmandu.

When Sherpa first traveled to Katmandu in April, Eric O’Neal, one of Sherpa’s colleagues at the city, set up the fundraising website. The money raised was initially used to help Sherpa and his family in Nepal.

According to the fundraising website, Sherpa “will no longer use donated funds for his family, 17 adopted kids or the three elderly and one partially paralyzed person he is helping. He has decided to personally fund these people from his own income.”

Sherpa said the school will have five or six classrooms. The kids will range from 5-10 years old.

For Sherpa, the whole situation is sad — he and his family lost their house in the earthquake — and he said he just wants to make things better by building this school.

“Right now, like 40 kids go to this school,” Sherpa said, in a recent interview. “So they don’t have a bench; they don’t have a table, nothing. They basically sit on the ground and study.”

Currently, the fundraising website notes that a goal has been set to $50,000.

O’Neal said while Sherpa was in Nepal, the goal had been set at $25,000. He said Sherpa estimates the cost of the school to be between $25,000-$30,000, which is why the fundraising goal has increased. About $21,000 has been raised, but O’Neal said that is the amount that has been donated since the beginning of the fundraiser and most has been used up while Sherpa was in Nepal. The money that is collected from this point on will go toward the school, he said.

About $2,000 more has been raised since Sherpa has returned from his last trip to Nepal.

“In the coming days and weeks we will refine the vision and perhaps seek out professional assistance with plans and drawings,” states the website, which was written by O’Neal. “We are also investigating the possibility of creating a nonprofit organization to formalize this effort. While there are many details to work out, I am confident in Danu’s ability to get things done. If he says it is going to happen, it will happen.”

Sherpa has been withdrawing money from his personal retirement account to fund the school. He doesn’t plan to rebuild his home in Nepal that took him 20 years to build. He is instead focusing all his efforts on helping the children back home. He wants to bring three of his adopted children to his home in Renton permanently, but a lawyer has informed him he’ll most likely just be able to bring one here.

“Right now, my goal is to give those kids a better life,” said Sherpa.

If you’d like to contribute to Danu Sherpa’s campaign for a new school go to http://www.gofundme.com/dollarsfordanu.

-Additional reporting by Tracey Compton, Renton Reporter, tcompton@rentonreporter.com