Dear friends,

On September 21 an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter Scale struck eastern Bhutan. The earthquake was felt throughout the country with most damage concentrated near the epicentre in the East on settlements that are remote and far removed from the capital Thimphu. In addition to the 13 fatalities, more than 4000 houses together with schools, health centres and other infrastructure were damaged beyond repair. This has impacted the lives of at least 2800 families who have lost everything to the disaster. Subsequent rescue and rebuilding efforts have been hampered by continuous aftershocks, windstorms and inclement weather. You will find media coverage on the earthquake on http://www.kuenselonline.com/earthquake/index.php

The impact of such a disaster is very serious for a small country like Bhutan. Our king, the Fifth Druk Gyalpo, HM Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, has established an appeal, The People’s Welfare Fund, to provide assistance to those worst affected by the disaster. I would therefore like to invite you to contribute to the fund which will immensely help Bhutan and the affected families to rebuild their lives.

Loden Foundation (www.loden.org) has kindly allowed me to use their just giving facility to make any donation. Your donations will go to Loden Foundation and from there will be transferred directly to The People's Welfare Fund.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Namey samey kadrinche La (Thank you beyond heaven and earth)

Love

Thinley