A BUDDHIST nun who originated from Bendigo is hoping a series of talks will help keep Nepal at the front of people's minds.
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Venerable Losang Demchog is in Australia to raise awareness of the situation in Nepal after it was rocked by an earthquake in April and another in May.
Venerable Losang spoke in Bendigo on Tuesday and plans to head to Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne.
She said while recovery efforts in Nepal had slowed down, the rebuilding phase could take up to five years.
"We're trying to raise people's awareness (so they don't) forget us. There's still a lot of suffering in Nepal and we still need our international friends to help us rebuild," Venerable Losang said.
"For the first two months people were very aware there was an earthquake but after a while it wanes. This is the next stage - the rebuilding. The schools, the buildings – the centre of people's lives have to be rebuilt.
"I am here to keep it in people's minds. It's not the end, it's only the beginning. We need people's help, support emotionally, we need people's prayers and so forth."
Venerable Losang, who works for the Namgyal Rinpoche Foundation of Nepal, was in Kathmandu at the time the earthquake struck.
"(The earthquake) was absolutely terrifying. People didn't know what it was because they had never experienced an earthquake before," she said.
Venerable Losang said schools, prayer halls and health centres along with many thousands of homes and entire villages had been destroyed.
She said one of the main focuses at the moment was shelter against the Monsoons.
"The Monsoons (have arrived) and people are still sleeping in tents and that means there is a lot of possibility of disease and sickness," she said.
Venerable Losang said the Nepalese people were "positive and optimistic" and would recover.
"They are resilient people and they will get on with their lives," she said.
For more information about the foundation, visit www.nrfoundation.org.np