Foreigners engaged in rescue operations
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
Leh, August 9
Forgetting their personal loss and grief, large number of foreign tourists joined over a thousand volunteers in Leh repair, rescue and reconstruction work. The Ladakh Budhist Association is leading the volunteers and has set up camps all over the city seekling donations and urging more volunteers to come forward.
But foreigners, many of who had landed here a day or two ago only before the disaster, were seen removing debris, carrying mud and sand.
Tsewang Gailtsen, who is a lecturer in political science and was helping in rescue work, said all school and colleges were closed as the main work was to carry out repair and rescue work.
He said a sea of humanity has swarmed the damaged places lending any helping hand they could, "But the most touching is the foreigners, who stepped in on their own. Ladakh would be thankful to them."
Kasprzak, a french toursit came here on August three and has lost two members of a group of French tourists. But putting it behind, she was seen carrying stretchers in a hospital.
"We lost friends and our belongings. There is misery all around. I cound not wait for relief as I was fit to help." she said.
Another volunteer was Rikla from Italy, "I had come here for meditation. We had a narrow escape from the flash floods. We lost some of our baggage. I feel for Ladakh and its people and could not keep eyes away from the places where I could help."
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