POCATELLO — Two brothers who spent time helping survivors of earthquakes in Nepal — Ely and Jesse Taysom — participated in a Wednesday fundraising walk on the Idaho State University campus to continue efforts to help the country high in the Himalayas.

    The Taysom brothers went to Nepal with Pocatello doctor Fahim Rahim after the first quake devastated the remote villages of Nepal, and devastated its capital of Katmandu.

    “No one really knows what it’s like over there because the media isn’t portraying the reality accurately,” Ely said.

    Ely is working on his master’s degree in forensic anthropology and he said the experience of helping with the relief effort in Nepal changed his perspective on life.

    “I was struck by the resilience and generosity of the Nepalese people,” Ely said.

    The ISU student said the immediate problem for survivors is shelter and food, as the country faces the monsoon season.

    “The Nepalese government isn’t doing nearly enough,” Ely said. “Even though the situation was terrible, the Nepalese people didn’t lose hope.”

    Ely said Dr. Rahim is trying to make sure the aid donated by people really gets to those who need it, and is not lost in the bureaucracy of the delivery system.

    “He’s (Dr. Rahim) trying to make sure the generosity of the American people isn’t wasted.”

    His brother, Jesse, agreed. The two brothers had linked up with their father, Lance Taysom, to make the trip to Nepal.

    “What struck me was the need to put aside one’s own needs and think about the needs of others,” Jesse said. “We need to get down to the root of loving other people.”

    Jesse graduated from Century High School this month, and said he’s planning to become a doctor one day. He’s enrolled at ISU this coming fall.

    Jesse said he was struck by the fact that college students in Nepal worked side-by-side with Americans and other foreign aid workers to help after the earthquakes.

    “I really liked spending time with the kids over there,” Jesse said.

    Jesse said the isolation of the villages is hard for most people to comprehend.

    “It takes days and days of travel just to get to these places,” Jesse said.

    During Wednesday’s event, Rahim addressed the crowd and said no one can appreciate the complexity of the problems people in Nepal now face.

    “There are 950,000 kids displaced in Nepal,” Rahim said. “They lost everything. They lost generations of history.”

    Rahim asked people to use their voices to bring the attention of the American government to the problem in Nepal.

    “We can join our voices together,” Rahim said. “Our country needs to represent our values.”

    The JRM Foundation for Humanity in Pocatello, started by Fahim and Naeem Rahim, has spearheaded efforts to bring relief to the people of Nepal following the disaster.

    The website that contains stories of its effort can be viewed at jrmfoundation.org.