From Lynn to Nepal, a helping hand

LYNN – The New American Center helps people who left lives halfway around the world to build new ones in Lynn.Now some of those people are reaching halfway around the world to help loved ones and friends devastated by the Nepal earthquakes.Volunteers and clients involved with the Wheeler Street-based center will host a vigil and fundraising effort Friday, beginning at 6 p.m., with a 7 p.m. candlelight vigil at the Lynn Commons gazebo to benefit Nepal.On April 25 and again on May 12, earthquakes killed more than 8,000 people in the small Asian nation.”To see these kids put this together is very empowering,” said center Director Natasha Soolkin.She said 40 Nepalese students attending local schools have participated in homework help programs and other assistance efforts since 2010. Ethiopian-born Harena Gebreyesus has met some of the students and is involved in the vigil organizing effort along with North Shore Community College student and fellow Lynn resident Julia Baraily.The women worked with center AmeriCorps volunteer Natalie Turek to draw posters for the vigil and spread the word about the Friday event on social media.”I want the Nepalese community here to feel they are supported,” Turek said.Baraily grew up in a Nepalese refugee camp but left Nepal with her family in 2008, initially relocating with a refugee assistance organization’s help to Tennessee before moving to Lynn to be with relatives.”As soon as I heard about the disaster, I wanted to help. I was running all over the place,” she said.Gebreyesus said the vigil will underscore ways people can help raise money to support earthquake relief efforts, but it is also aimed at identifying ways to provide long-term assistance to Nepal and former residents living in the United States.Soolkin said the center is working with the Lynn Community Health Center to identify ways to provide behavioral health care and counseling to local residents from Nepal.”Their connection with the country is personal; their whole world is coming down – it’s a devastating story,” Soolkin said.Turek has met Nepalese youth since she started working at the center last fall, and she knows they fear for family members and friends living in Nepal.”They are worried no one’s going to pay attention,” Turek said.Baraily juggles work as a waitress with studying business at North Shore Community College. In the days following the earthquake, she raised $800 in donations from Lynn and Danvers campus students to help Nepal.She said her grandmother has spoken with relatives in Nepal about the possibility of disease outbreaks complicating earthquake recovery efforts.”Everyone’s worried,” Baraily said.