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It has been awhile since we last spoke with René Treur, former competitive CS player and currently the most popular CS host and commentator in the Benelux. A lot has changed in a year, so we decided to catch up with him once again, especially as he recently started a project to help earthquake victims in Nepal with his girlfriend.

Good morning René, how have you been since we last spoke?

Great! Despite my fulltime job, girlfriend and sports activities, I still regularly have a chance to commentate and host Pro Evolution Soccer and Counter-Strike events in the Benelux, and sometimes even outside. Despite of my inactivity since 2008, organisations -  such as your own ;-)  -  always still know where to find me! I do not think I can ever completely retire from the gaming scene, I feel I keep getting better at what I do and still feel excitement for each event I visit.

Great to hear! Now let’s get straight to the gist of this interview, what is up with the Nepal messages we have seen pop-up on your Facebook and on gaming websites?

I’m glad you ask! In December (2014) I met a fantastic girl (Saskia van der Drift), who is basically the one who single-handedly started this project. The main reason for this is that she visited Nepal for 3 weeks, and her flight back was one day before the first massive Earthquake. Soon enough she found out what happened, and that among others the guide who helped her get down from the Mount Everest just in time when she suffered severe altitude sickness, lost his house, and is living on the street with his entire family. This is in a nutshell why she feels the need to help the people there, despite falling so ill she nearly lost her live she still describes it as the best holiday she ever had. Mainly because the country is (was) so beautiful, and the people are so very kind over there.

Rene & Sylvia

What exactly do you guys do to try and help?

When I saw how much all this affected Saskia, I obviously felt the need to help her. And if that was not enough motivation, by now I have received several heart-warming messages of people in the conflicted area who found out what we are up to and still have means to communicate through social media. We started collection goods like rain clothes, tents, and blankets, to help keep the homeless people warm and dry in the streets.

The monsoon period is about to start so who-ever is not ill or injured by now will probably become sick as a result of this and the drama will be even greater. We have now collected about 400 kg of support goods. We already found a transport company willing to bring the goods to Nepal for 2,5 € per kilo (reasonable price, especially as it is hard to find a cargo company able to land on the heavily damaged airstrip in Kathmandu), and willing to fly in two people without charging extra for some excess luggage (thank you CSR Etihad Airways). Saskia will travel to Nepal herself to make sure the goods reach the people in need. TAAN (Tourist Agency Association Nepal) help us with this by canvassing which people and area are most urgently in need of relief goods.

Nepal Nepal delivery help

Is there anything we can still do to help?

I hope so! As stated we need money for transport, and then also declaration costs at the customs will be a large sum. We started collecting donations among friends, colleagues and family. Even some fellow competitive gamers already chipped in when they found out what I was up to! Once again disproving the stereotype many people have from gamers. But so far we are still in need of a lot more ka-ching to make this happen. We can invest some of our savings but have to be careful not to bite off more than we can chew, so to speak ;-) Please do mail me at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  for details , if you would like PayPal or Iban details to chip in! And if you’re a gamer and you would like it, I will do a shoutout at the next event I commentate (as for now Frag-O-Matic is one of the two I have planned, the other one is still classified) to everyone who makes a donation.

You said your girlfriend suffered severe altitude sickness, what happened exactly?

On the way up she felt nausea, headache and loss of appetite. First she thought it was caused by sunburn or windy circumstances. After she reached Everest Base Camp, during night she got massive headache, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting. She suffered brain swelling (oedema). She was not able to walk straight anymore and her heartbeat reached over 120bpm in rest, while oxygen level was below 73% (at sea-level 99% is normal). Besides this she was not able to walk more then 10 meters downhill at a slow pace of 2km/hour, caused by the pulmonary oedema. After she reached the mountain hospital she got heavy steroids and oxygen and then was taken to Kathmandu by helicopter for further care in the bigger hospital there.  

After her initial message of what happened I rang her a few times, and she just started yapping (in a restricted voice with heavy breaths in between) about how beautiful the country was and all the amazing stuff she had seen, and I had to cut her off to first inquire about her health because I was worried sick. This goes to show how much she enjoyed her stay!

Thank you for your time René, anything else you would like to add?

Thank you all for reading this and thank you Peter, Paul and Carla for the repeated interest in my endeavours! 

 

And of course SD-Gaming donates € 100 for this great initiative, we do hope many gamers will follow us!! More information about how to donate? Mail Rene at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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