At TechSoup New Zealand we work closely with our partner Infoxchange on ensuring Microsoft technology is fully utilised in not-for-profit organisations across Australia, NZ and Asia.

As part of their work, Marcus Harvey from Infoxchange was in Nepal during the earthquake on 25 April and saw the devastation first hand. 

I personally have family and friends in Christchurch (NZ) and was there 48 hours after the quake to help cleanup and help where I could, so the impact of earthquakes is very real and personal to me.

For this reason I am pleased to share that Connecting Up, TechSoup New Zealand & Infoxchange have worked together to donate all funds received for Office 365 readiness assessments ordered during the month of May to the Red Cross and ChildFund. Infoxchange has already supported organisations on the ground in Nepal, and these funds will be going to key organisations on the ground already making a difference.

The below post originally appeared on the Infoxchange website, with Marcus appealing for support to campaigns on the ground in Nepal.

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One of our senior managers Marcus Harvey was at an orphanage in Nepal and about to work with the children in their computer lab when the devastating earthquake struck last month. 

He has appealed for people to support campaigns by ChildFund and the Red Cross to help Nepal.

Marcus, the children and orphanage staff he was with were not seriously injured in the earthquake, which registered 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed more than 7000 people when it struck on 25 April.

An unoccupied car crushed by debris in the Nepal earthquake.

“The recovery process will take a lot of effort and funds,” says Marcus, who has done extensive work with not-for-profit organisations in New Zealand since the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch.

“Years after the Christchurch quakes, the rebuild effort is still underway and even more will be required in Nepal. Our assistance and support can make a huge difference."

Marcus was in Nepal working in partnership with Pearl Consulting Services and the Microsoft Innovation Centre Nepal on a project to help not-for profit organisations design programs and use technology to boost employment options for women and youth.

He was in Kathmandu facilitating a two-day Innovation for Impact workshop, funded by Microsoft’s YouthSpark programand the World Bank.

The next day Marcus, through the Microsoft Innovation Centre, visited the orphanage 30 minutes from Kathmandu.

“We were in the orphanage with a group of children in the computer lab and everything just started to shake,” he recalls.

“My instinct was to run outside, but I saw out the window that bricks and rocks were falling from above.

“We sat on the floor, huddled together and cuddled the kids.

“Then we moved outside to sit in an open wheat field where there were no buildings for a couple of hours until the aftershocks became less severe.”

One of his strongest memories of the quake is seeing thousands of people walking along the roads afterwards because it was a safe open space and away from buildings that could still collapse.

“There were people sleeping on the road because they knew it was safe,” he recalls.

Marcus Harvey and Allen Bailochan Tuladhar, Microsoft Innovation Centre.

“Others camped on any available open space. Anywhere you could pitch a tent there was a tent because it was safe out in the open.”

It was Marcus’s first time in Nepal but he says he would definitely go back.

“They are lovely people, so respectful and resourceful,” he says. “But they need our assistance. Please, please donate to help them.”

New Zealand-based Infoxchange employee Steve Davis volunteers with Red Cross and is expecting to head over to Nepal to assist in the next few months.

To donate, please visit ChildFund and Red Cross. If you're in New Zealand, please make sure you visit ChildFund NZ or Red Cross NZ.