Canadian Manon Hesp was in Kathmandu when the earthquake struck.
A Canadian woman stranded in the earthquake-rattled capital of Nepal has made contact with her family, bringing relief to her worried children who want their mother home but understand her desire to stay and help others.
Manon Hesp, a 51-year-old Ontario woman who sold or gave away nearly everything she owned to embark on a journey through India and beyond in November, contacted her family Monday on a phone she likely borrowed from someone in Kathmandu. The Quebec-born Reiki master told her eldest daughter she is huddled up with locals in an outdoor square, where survivors are using tarps to build shelters, sharing their drinking water and rationing crackers. The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that shook Nepal and neighbouring countries Saturday killed thousands, levelled parts of the capital and brought devastation to Mount Everest's base camp.
The woman's younger daughter said her understanding is that her mother has no desire to immediately return to Canada but wants to stay and help those who have lost loved ones, homes and life as they knew it.
"I know my mom, and she would give her life to stay there and help people," Laura Hesp, 24, told The Globe and Mail late Monday evening. "But I just want her to come home."
Manon Hesp's three children had been calling her over and over since they lost touch with her Saturday afternoon.
"She's a regular woman who kind of Eat, Pray, Loved her way into India," Laura Hesp said, referring to the popular 2006 memoir. "When she calls, she's panicking and devastated, but at least I know she's alive. Thank God we got that phone call, because a lot of people didn't. I'm just so thankful for that."