TRILLICK woman Sinead McNabb has recalled the moment she felt the earth tremor as she visited her ailing grandmother in Nepal last month.

A country still on its knees in the aftermath of the earthquake that registered 7.8 on the Richter earlier this year, Nepal is struggling to come to terms with the devastation left in its wake.

Having visited Nepal on previous occasions to see her grandmother, Hasina, Sinead says the wreckage and ruin of Kathmandu, where Hasina lives, was heartbreaking.

“I knew all the historical buildings before,” says Sinead, “I had seen pictures on the news of the devastation but nothing compares to being there yourself and seeing it first-hand.

“It was awful. So many beautiful buildings were destroyed and they cannot be replaced.

“When I got there, I was very aware that so many people lost their lives.” Having raised over £3,000 at home, Sinead, her mother and her boyfriend resolved to visit Kathmandu, to present a cheque to an area identified to be most in need and use some of the remaining money to bring her grandmother home to Trillick.

For around two months after the earthquake, Hasina, like thousands of other Nepalese people, had no option but to live outdoors in tents for fear that another quake might strike.

To make matters worse, Hasina, who suffers from diabetes, had not been able to self-medicate properly due to failing eyesight.

“She needs her family to look after her,” said Sinead.

Describing Nepalese people as “the kindest you could ever hope to meet”, Sinead says she found the atmosphere in the country to be very different on this visit.

“People were very withdrawn. I suppose it is understandable -- it was 84 years since the last earthquake and all of a sudden the ground beneath your feet is shaking.” According to Sinead, the country is still experiencing tremors on a regular basis since the earthquake, one of which they experienced first-hand during their stay.

“I was in bed one night and all of a sudden, the cabinets started shaking -- everything started shaking. I didn’t know what was going on. Mum was standing -- she thought she was going to fall over.

“It probably only lasted about three to four minutes, but it felt like a lot longer.

“Some of the tremors happen in the middle of the night and are so small that they wouldn’t wake you from your sleep. But others can be like the one we experienced where the rooms actually shake.” Sinead and her boyfriend, Stephen visited a number of areas destroyed by the earthquake too.

“We went out to the campsites where people are still living in tents,” she explained, “In a lot of cases, people have been told they can move back into their homes, but they are still too afraid to.” Sinead and Stephen donated almost 200,000 rupees, the equivalent of £1,260 to Mother Theresa’s Missions of Charity in Kathmandu to help family members displaced by the earthquake’s effects.

The money was raised through the generous donations of people from the area of Trillick and an afternoon tea event at the Happiness Trap in Enniskillen, where Sinead works.

She and Stephen also spent time teaching in a local school.

The most difficult part of her visit however, was the frustrating delays she experienced while trying to organise her grandmother’s visa to return to Trillick.

“I thought the three weeks we had out there would have been enough time to get it all sorted,” she explained, “But Nepal is so disorganised at the moment.

“There are a lot of strikes going on there, being organised by a gang.

“If the government isn’t delivering what people want, this gang gets people to shut their shops, no taxis are allowed on the roads, or buses.

“If they see a taxi on the road, they will beat the driver up -- that is how they operate.

“It has slowed everything up. So her visa wasn’t ready by the time we had to go home.

“My mother is still out there with her now. We are hoping she will be able to come home before the end of this month.” Sinead described her trip to Nepal as “ a real eye-opener”.

“I’m just looking forward to bringing my grandmother home now,” she adds, “She wasn’t able to take care of herself. It is a miracle that she survived the earthquake.”