When Celebration Gives Way to Humanity:MEMBSA Nepal Turns Its Anniversary Into an Act of Solidarity

JHAPA, Nepal — September 2, 2026

A week ago, people in Nepal’s Himalayan valleys were going to work, running businesses, building roads and hydropower projects, sending children to school and returning home to their families. Then, in a matter of hours, water, ice, rock and mud tore through valleys and settlements. Entire communities were devastated; more than a thousand people have been reported dead and thousands remain missing, while rescuers continue searching for people believed trapped inside hydropower tunnels.

It is the kind of destruction that can make a familiar town look like the aftermath of a horror film—homes erased, bridges gone, roads buried and families waiting for news of loved ones who may never return. For a small, mountainous country with limited economic resources, the scale of such a disaster is immense.

Against this backdrop, Mechi–Mahakali Buhari Sanyukta Aawaj (MEMBSA Nepal) has made a quiet but meaningful choice: instead of spending heavily on its anniversary celebration, it has redirected Rs. 40,505 to the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund.

The organization had planned to celebrate its anniversary on September 3 with its central, provincial, district and local committees. But as the country confronted another devastating disaster, MEMBSA decided that celebration could wait—and that the money could serve a greater purpose elsewhere.

The contribution is modest beside the scale of the destruction. Its significance lies in the principle behind it: when people are losing everything, even a celebration can become an opportunity to stand with them.

This is not entirely new for MEMBSA. From supporting vulnerable families and children to advocating for women, education and social welfare, the organization has sought to combine empowerment with humanitarian service. Its public record also includes assistance to people facing medical and economic hardship.

And when disaster strikes, MEMBSA has repeatedly tried to be present—not as an institution standing apart from the crisis, but as a community responding to it. During the pandemic and other emergencies, its members have mobilized their own resources and contributions to help people in need.

That spirit gives this anniversary decision its meaning.

MEMBSA is not abandoning celebration. It is redefining it.

For an organization built around women coming together and contributing what they can, perhaps there is no more fitting anniversary message than this: when another family is grieving, another home has disappeared, or another person is still waiting to be found, our happiness can wait. Humanity cannot.