It is not enough for Michaela Zammit la Rosa, a 24-year old Maltese mechanical engineer, to just sit down and see Nepal be devastated in the news. Having visited and loved the country in a three-week holiday in 2014, this Maltese engineer just had to go there and provide necessary assistance.
Maltese mechanical engineer (Source: Michaela Zammit la Rosa)
Maltese mechanical engineer (Source: Linkedin)
She felt as if someone had violated something of hers. It was a personal longing to return to Nepal and aid in post-earthquake relief, along with the millions of dollars flooding into the country and thousands of able hands willing to work.
Maltese mechanical engineer (Source: Independent Malta)
Maltese mechanical engineer (Source: Independent Malta)
Despite eight months in, she was willing to lend her pair of able hands to help. It wasn’t her safety in the country she had loved that she’s more concerned of, but her parents’ reaction of her intentions.
But fortunately, she was even more supported than she had expected. Her father had donated money.
Maltese mechanical engineer (Source: Independent Malta)
So she flew and spent five weeks working with an NGO called Volunteer Initiative Nepal. Her assignment was in a small town called Jitpurphedi, aiming to declare the town an Open Defecation-Free-Zone. She built toilets that are dug into the rock that were two meters in diameter and two meters deep.
She hopes that a lot more people will be moved to take action and contribute in restoring Nepal.
