An NPR member station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Spokane Company Holding Onto Hope For Nepalese Craftspeople

The founders of the Spokane company GaneshHimal work with producers in Nepal’s Kathmandu valley, less than 20 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. They are using connections worldwide to track down their Nepalese friends.

Normally Denise Attwood and husband Ric Conner get in touch with their Nepalese friends about clothing designs and shipping schedules. Now, Attwood says they’re trying to confirm that their producers are safe. So far they have heard from producers whose homes were destroyed, and learned the rural health center she developed in 2010 was destroyed.

Attwood: “We’re just trying to find out who is okay, and then we’ll find out what needs to be done. And for our business, we are committed to these people. We love them so much, and we’ve been through a civil war with them, we’ll go through this with them.”

Nepal was in a civil war for ten years, ending in 2006.

Attwood says they’re using Facebook, email, and friends as far away as Germany to find their producers after the quake. They haven’t heard from their longtime friend named Ram Karki, who dozens of people from Spokane have gone trekking with in Nepal.

Ganesh Himal is raising money for relief and has already hit $9,000. Attwood says first they want to get food into rural villages, and will eventually build another clinic. The Baseri Health Clinic was staffed by two people, who are okay, and served an area with no other health facilities.

Copyright 2015 Spokane Public Radio

Related Content