Rai witnessed the massive destruction of heritages by the earthquake on April 25. His neighbors lost their houses and he started the campaign to help others with support from young people through social media.
Almost 59,000 Nepalis living in the UK supported this campaign last Saturday (May 16) where a musical program 'Artquake: Art for Earthquake Nepal' was organized at October Gallery in London, UK. Nepali artists in the UK performed at the event. Earlier, under artist Govinda Azad's leadership, various relief materials were collected in London, too. Supporting him in collecting the relief materials were many other individuals including popular fashion designer Sanyukta Shrestha. The raised sum will be used for constructing houses and toilets in rural Nepal.When he reached Tundikhel on the third day of the earthquake, he saw only four toilets for nearly 10,000 people who had gathered there.
"People taking shelter in Tundikhel were forced to use the open ground to relieve themselves. This can lead to infection and spread of diseases. Then I along with my friend, Ishan Swadeshi, started constructing emergency toilets," he explains.
Forty five emergency toilets were constructed after he rounded up volunteers through social media and also with the help of Nepal Army.
"I collected Rs 4,000 from three friends. Now it's gaining momentum. We've managed to build almost 122 toilets. Currently, we're working to build toilets for physically handicapped people," he said.
The team has worked in Sindhupalchowk, Lalitpur, Lubhu, Makawanpur, Bhaktapur and Dhading as well as other earthquake affected areas.
Artist Rai has named this campaign 'White Butterfly Project'.
"I wrote on Facebook about the campaign late at night. By the next morning, 4,000 people had shared it. The participation of young people has encouraged us to believe in the reconstruction of Nepal," he said.
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