Mendham woman's Nepal school safe after quakes

Maggie Doyne, the Mendham woman who used her babysitting money to build an orphanage in Nepal, was unharmed in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit the country Saturday, claiming the lives of more than 4,000 people.

That earthquake hit the area of Lamjung in Nepal, affecting the major cities of Kathmandu and Pokara, and more than 50 aftershocks have continued to devastate the region the past two days.

Doyne, 28, is currently at home in Morris County, and announced the school and orphanage she founded was safe via her Twitter page.

"Our thoughts go out to everyone in Kathmandu and Pokhara," Doyne said via the BlinkNow Twitter handle.

Doyne is the founder and executive director of BlinkNow, a nonprofit working to empower children in Surkhet. She also retweeted the statement on her personal Twitter handle.

On the BlinkNow Facebook page Saturday morning, the group said those at the school could only feel the earthquake "a little bit" in Surkhet.

Doyne began her work in Nepal in 2005, during what was supposed to be a gap year between graduating from Mendham High School and attending college. But instead she found her calling in the Himalayan village of Surkhet.

Through BlinkNow, Doyne created the Kopila Valley Children's Home and School. More than 350 children now attend the school and she is the legal guardian of nearly 50 of them.

All students are safe and accounted for, save for one, who was playing on a soccer team in Kathmandu at the time of the earthquake, Doyne said. Since Internet and phone lines are down, there is no indication the student was harmed, but they have been unable to get in contact, she said.

The home and school is located in the Surkhet district of Nepal at the time of the quake, more than 370 miles west of Kathmandu and nearly 600 miles from Pokhara.

"It's sad, devastating," Doyne said. "There are thousand year old buildings, just gone. And I think the [fatality and injury] numbers are still going to go way, way up."

Doyne is currently home in the United States for several weeks, working out of BlinkNow's Morristown office while a 10-month-old orphan she cares for receives medical attention.

She is also attending BlinkNow board meetings and speaking at with several groups including Madison's Rotary Club Thursday and Morristown's Peck School Friday.

"Having lived in Nepal it's the aftermath I'm really worried about," Doyne said. "I hope for an organized relief effort. There is instability in Nepal without a natural disaster."

Doyne said she is concerned for good friends she has not heard from in Kathmandu.

"And I'm also worried about the remote villages," Doyne said. "It's hard to know if they will get the same relief as the major cities."

Doyne said she and BlinkNow have received hundreds of calls, people checking in to make sure they are safe, and she appreciates the well wishes.

Doyne has spent the past two days on Twitter letting people know how they can help victims and the region in the aftermath of the earthquake.

She has linked to an Indiegogo page that has raised more than $175,000, https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/nepal-earthquake-relief-fund and a U.S. AID page on how Americans can help, http://www.usaid.gov/nepal-earthquake/fy15/fs01.

Doyne also recommends the Red Cross and CARE as two organizations to donate to for relief efforts.

BlinkNow's website also has a list of ways to help at http://www.blinknow.org/journal/entry/nepal-earthquake-we-are-safe.

"The hospitals are bad before a disaster, so I'm worried about the injured," Doyne said. "I'm worried about water, about cholera, about a lack of communication. It will take the world pulling together to help."

Members of BlinkNow tried to land a helicopter in Kathmandu Monday to help with relief efforts, but were unable to land, Doyne said.

Doyne said she plans to return to Nepal to help in a few weeks.

Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@GannettNJ.com