Nepal: a small country bordered by India to the east, west, and south and the Tibetan region of China to the north.

On April 25, 2015 a magnitude 8.1 earthquake rocked the country the epicenter was east of Lamjung district. The earthquake was so powerful that it caused an avalanche on Mount Everest, 158.1 miles away. 

Chloe Hettinger, a senior, plans to go to Nepal to help children orphaned by the earthquake.

The earthquake hit the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu. The buildings in the city were not built to hold against an earthquake.

The aftershocks were devastating. 25 aftershocks with a magnitude of 5 or higher on the Richter were recorded with the last one on July 2, 2015. By this time, 8,000 people had died and 21,000 were injured. With many people living in the mountains, it was hard for aid to reach them.

Hettinger originally planned to go to India, but her mother advised against it.  

Instead, Hettinger is going with Projects Abroad an organization that runs humanitarian projects in countries like Kenya, Peru and Cambodia.

“We established operation in Nepal in 1999, so we have been working there for 16 years,” said Elizabeth Cauchois, a program adviser at Projects Abroad.

Hettinger will assist children in a rural region right outside of Kathmandu.

“They want you to bring your own bottled water, so don’t depend on the water because everything is different there,” Hettinger said. 

Hettinger will be going to Nepal during the last two weeks of July.

Projects Abroad volunteer fees, which cost 2,000 dollars, cover everything besides visas and flights.  

According to Hettinger, “flights are going to be around 1170 dollars.”

In 2015, there was 655 volunteers spread over different projects. Hettinger estimates there will be about 15 teens in her group, and she is the only person at Glen Rock High school participating.

Hettinger has raised the majority of the funds through work and her GoFundMe page.