Seven months ago, Nepal, beloved destination for so many Westerners looking for mountain climbing adventures and spiritual enlightenment, was hit by a devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake. The aftermath changed the landscape of the country and left many without access to clean water. Roark Revival, having recently shot their Holiday 2015 catalogs in Nepal, decided they wanted to be involved in the recovery efforts and immediately set about partnering up with Waves For Water, helping to distribute water filtration stations across the country. Several months down the line over 4000 water stations have been installed, but there is still a long way to go. As a brand they are continuing their commitment to Nepal and Mizu & Electric, Roark’s outfitter partners from their Volume 9: “Himalayan Halfway House”, have also teamed up to help in the release, with 100% of profits from the sale of the Roark X Mizu “Help Nepal” bottles being donated to Waves for Water and 50% of the profits from the sale of their Roark X Electric Huxley Glacier Glass donated to the Sima Humanitarian Fund.
Mizu: Explain a little more about your brand’s attachment to Nepal as a country.
Roark: We traveled to Nepal in November 2014 in search of a wayward Sadu named Johnny who runs a Halfway House high up in the Himalayas. We fell in love with the country and its people along the way.
Mizu: You arrived in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake. Were you prepared for what you were going to see?
Roark: No, it was very devastating to see cities, towns and villages that we had visited a few months prior completely destroyed.
Mizu: Was access to clean water one of the biggest challenges the Nepalese were facing?
Roark: One of the many challenges after any disaster is just trying to fulfill your basic daily needs and when most of the infrastructure has been destroyed accessing clean water becomes a huge challenge.
Mizu: How much money are you hoping to raise?
Roark: Our goal is to raise $100K through product sales with some of our outfitters from the trip that includes Mizu and Electric and also through direct donations to a fundraising page we have established.
http://www.wavesforwater.org/fundraiser/help-nepal
Mizu: Nepal was all over the media in the days following the earthquake, but now nothing. How is Nepal doing today?
Roark: The Nepalese people seem to be doing pretty good and they accept situations like these as a part of life but the country itself is still in need of rebuilding and the efforts will be ongoing for years.
Mizu: Will Roark be returning to Nepal any time soon?
Roark: For the moment we are focusing on sending as much relief effort to Nepal as we can generate and hopefully, Roark, physically will be back at a future date.
