Courtney Van Haaften | Co-Editor in Chief & Samantha Hirschman | Assistant News Co-Editor

On the morning of Saturday, April 25, the country of Nepal was struck with a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that has caused the death of over 4,000 people so far and wounded many others. Among the survivors of the tragic event are several Buena Vista University (BVU) alumni and Ken Meissner, Campus Chaplain. Meissner was visiting the country in order to attend the wedding of two BVU alumni, Lauren Whitt (’13) and Bikash Pandey (’11), who is originally from Nepal. Also on in Nepal for the wedding were BVU alumni Tiffany (Peterson) Rasmussen (’09), Kyle Rasmussen (’10), and Jemira Payne (’13). All have been reported safe.

Nepal has been devastated by this tragic event and many are without shelter, electricity, and sources of food and water. The airport in the capital city of Kathmandu has been closed down due to damage which has caused travel to and from the country to become extremely difficult for citizens, visitors, and those providing relief.

Ashley Farmer-Hanson, Director of Civic Engagement and Assistant Dean of Student Life, has been in contact with Payne. Farmer-Hanson received a text message from her this week that read: “We’re all safe and well. We are really lucky no one is hurt and we have a stable roof over our heads. Everyone says ‘hi’ and thank you for the prayers.”

Brad Griffin, a Facebook friend of Meissner, posted on Meissner’s Facebook profile that he received a text message from Meissner on April 27. The text message read, “doing well – no worries.”

Farmer-Hanson has also been checking in on the Facebook profiles of the other BVU alumni who are currently in Nepal. According to Farmer-Hanson, Meissner will be traveling back to the United States on Saturday, May 2. She gathered from a different Facebook post that the rest of the wedding party will also return home at that time.

Also affected by the earthquake is Ravi Kumar, a BVU grad from the class of 2010, who is originally from Nepal and currently has family in the country. Kumar, who is living in the Washington D.C. area and working for the World Bank, has received word that his family is safe. He has been a part of many efforts to send relief to Nepal and all those who are affected by the earthquake.

“I am hoping that people who need help on the ground, especially in certain areas, who have not been able to receive help yet will be connected to people like local volunteers, good people who are helping these victims. That is what we are doing; just simply becoming a connecting point for people who need help and for people who are trying to help,” Kumar said.

The full KBVU story with Kumar is below.
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The Tack ONLINE will continue to cover this story as more information becomes available.

Audio story by Madeleiene McCormick and Scott Locati
Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons

Update: This article has been corrected. It previously read that Farmer-Hanson had received word from Payne “six hours after the earthquake.” However, she did not hear from Payne until this week. It also read that Meissner was in Nepal to officiate the ceremony; however, he was a guest. He will officiate the couple’s American ceremony later this month.