Emergency Relief for Nepal Earthquake

Dear Supporter,

It is heart-warming to see that your donations continue to come in for the Nepal Earthquake relief. There is still so much work that needs to be done, and so many people that are still waiting for, and need, our assistance.

GVI in Nepal is helping in the relief work through our Nepalese partners Himalayan Encounters and Rural Heritage. In the past few months, the rebuilding efforts have ground almost to a halt due to the heavy monsoon rains. The rains have caused major landslides that have blocked roads and taken out bridges, leaving many people stranded. We are waiting for the end of the monsoon season to continue construction projects in earnest.

Here is a summary of what we have done in the past few months.

EARTHQUAKE EMERGENCY KIT

Shortly after the second earthquake hit, we put together and distributed earthquake emergency kits for all of the GVI homestay households. The emergency kit which consists of medical supplies, food, water, shelter, tools and communication devices. The kit has provided people with a greater sense of security to the community members, staff and volunteers. It has also helped to ease the anxiety about how to act should another earthquake hit.

EMERGENCY GATE

We have helped to install an emergency gate at Sewa Kendra. The purpose of this gate is to provide a safer method of evacuating the school for the staff, students, and volunteers in case of an emergency. We worked with the school and a local tradesman to build a sliding metal gate so that everyone can exit the school to the nearby field for security. Our partners at Sewa Kendra are very happy to have this quick exit point for the students. Previously they had to negotiate through a narrow alley running alongside a very tall house. Exiting the school to the front gate could take over 30 seconds. With the new gate, everyone can assemble at a safe meeting point within 10 seconds.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

Many students in the area where the second earthquake hit, Dolkha, have lost all of their books and school supplies and their families don’t have the funds for new stationery. So we put together 100 backpacks for the students at Shree Shankeni Lower Secondary School.  Each backpack contained 10 copy books, 8 pencils, 8 pens and1 geometry box set. The students were very excited to receive their new backpack in order to carry their books to a temporary school to continue their education.

COMMUNITY SHELTER

In Barpak in the Gorkha district a community shelter was destroyed during the earthquakes. Along with our Nepalese partners, we have started a project to rebuild this shelter. Construction of the shelter has been put on hold until the monsoon ends due to the numerous and dangerous mudslides affecting the area. The community shelter is designed to benefit everyone in Barpak. It will be used for meetings, supplies and storage. The community are very happy and grateful to hear of our support as many organisations have stopped offering assistant.

SCHOOL PROJECT

Going forward, we have decided that we would like to support a primary school in the district of Nuwakot. The school was completely destroyed during the first earthquake and we would like to focus our efforts on a larger project now that the initial aid has been distributed. We will be working in partnership with Rural Heritage. We look forward to bringing you news of this project and how it progresses in the coming months.

It is amazing how we have been able to reassure, help and assist with different projects with the donation received, and for that we thank you.

Your generosity has touched thousands of lives and will continue to do so as rebuilding continues.

With Gratitude, 

GVI Nepal

Links:

• The Charitable Trust
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Dear Supporter,

On Saturday 4th July 2015 we loaded up a very large truck full of relief supplies for 100 families from  Mahadeveshi, Dhading.  GVI staff member Lok accompanied a team of Himalayan Encounters staff to oversee the distribution of the goods.

We researched along with our partners at Himalayan Encounters, which villages were still waiting for relief and found that Mahadeveshi was still lacking basic supplies. After a busy day, collecting and sorting materials, equipment and supplies, we had finally loaded the trucks up with all the supplies. This has been our largest relief donation to a village and the consisted of:

• 10 sheets of tin per family
• 2 iron poles with hooks and nails
• Rice, Daal and soya beans
• Salt and beaten rice
• Water filters and
• Sanitary items

It was a huge challenge getting all of these supplies packed and sorted for 100 families and the truck was very heavy with the weight of all the tin and iron poles. Not to mention the 3,000kg of rice!

All of the families affected have a very low income and have lost their houses, farmlands and livestock.  Monsoon season is well underway and the families desperately need to fix and build shelter to maintain their health and hygiene during this time. The whole community relies on income from digging and packing sand. This has become impossible to continue after the earthquakes and the village has unfortunately largely been ignored in relief efforts to date.

The aid was gratefully received by the villagers and we would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has made this possible – the amazing fundraising efforts and, of course, our team on the ground who deliver the aid. We would also like to thank a past GVI volunteer who sent out water filters for the village.

The Nepali government is still overwhelmed and the relief is ongoing. The scale of the destruction is enormous and there is nobody who has been left unaffected. Your support is essential to help Nepal get back on its feet and we are still gathering donations. 

Thank you for your generous and ongoing support.

With Gratitude, 

GVI-Nepal

Links:

• The Charitable Trust