Trailwalker team funds earthquake-resilient home

Trailwalker team member Major Dillikumar Rai MVO visited Kerbahadur in his new home

World War II veteran Kerbahadur Ghale now has a safe place to call home, thanks to the funds raised by the 2019 Trailwalker team ’24-Hour Dal Bhat Power’.

The team of four, pictured below, raised an incredible amount in 2019. Originally they had set a £12,000 fundraising goal to complete the construction of a rural school project in Nepal. By the end of the event, the team raised over £17,000, enough to additionally fund a new earthquake-resilient home for a GWT pensioner.

Trailwalker team member Henry Boucher’s grandfather served as Major General Brigade of Gurkhas in Malaya from 1948 to 1950. He was also Colonel, 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles. When the team learned that Kerbahadur also served with the 3rd Gurkha Rifles, they were inspired to sponsor his new home.

The Trailwalker 2019 team ’24-Hour Dal Bhat Power’: Piers Lawson, Henry Boucher, Richard Jory, and Major Dillikumar Rai MVO.

Fighting in the Second World War

Kerbahadur served with the 3rd Gurkha Rifles, originally a Gurkha regiment of the British Indian Army. He enlisted in 1943 and did his recruit training in Dehradun, before being posted to the 2/3 Gurkha Regiment. At the height of the war, he had pre-deployment training in Ranchi and was then deployed straight to Burma in 1944. He served as a medical orderly, tending to the wounded. At the end of the war, he returned to Dehradun and was released from service in early 1948.

“I wanted to come back to my village,” Kerbahadur said. “I am originally from a village in the Syangja district. But it was tough in the hills, so we decided to move to the Terai plains around 17 years ago.”

A safe new home

Kerbahadur’s new house was built next to the home of his daughter-in-law, where he had lived previously and shared a room with his grandsons. Now he has the space to live comfortably and with dignity, which is more important than ever at 96 years old. Most essentially, this home will keep Kerbahadur and his family safe from earthquakes, landslides, and flooding in Nepal’s unpredictable environment.

The Gurkha veteran and his family are also incredibly grateful for the monthly Welfare Pension, which we are able to deliver thanks to generous donations from our supporters in the UK. “The amount that I receive is enough for me to buy food and clothing,” Kerbahadur said. “It is the blessings of Lord Buddha! The British have compassion for us.”