NEPAL
EARTHQUAKE
UPDATE
Gorkha
18/05/2015
Nepal, 3 weeks on...
Earthquake ravaged country continues to feel aftershocks, and is hit by second large
destructive tremor last week
Current figures show over 8,000 dead,14,000 injured, with over 160,000 buildings in
ruins and 600,000 others damaged
There are still many parts of the country in need of shelter, water, food and medical
attention, yet geographical and political obstacles are hampering the relief getting to
those who need it
Fears are that the three key political parties are influencing the distribution of relief,
injecting partisan politics into a humanitarian tragedy
Donors, including the UN and the US, have asked the Nepal government to be less
bureaucratic in lifting aid-material from customs and allowing them to work with their
partners, instead of the insisting all relief is channelled through government agencies
Many small local grassroots aid initiatives are proving successful in reaching neglected
rural areas, but efforts are being challenged by the effects of aftershocks
Nepal’s economy has been shattered by the tragedy, and with tourism all but wiped
out, recovery is predicted to take years
In Gorkha...
Supply routes to villages in the north of Gorkha
are completely unusable due to landslides
In Hansapur area, 95% of buildings are
gone. Many villages in and around Barpak,
Laprak & Simjung are completely levelled,
and massive landslides in Sridibas and Prok
are both major concerns, with many families
needing rescue
In the worst hit areas, grain and food for humans
and livestock is mostly lost, having been buried
in amongst rubble and debris
Rural hospitals are feeling the strain due to
lack of medical supplies and manpower
Shelter and food are still a priority, but
political chicanery is testing some relief efforts in
reaching key areas of the district
GORKHA DISTRICT
Supply channels
Two large trucks with Gorkha Foundation supplies
successfully crossed the India/Nepal border, meeting
with another aid vehicle from Chitwan. A distribution
centre was established in Abu Khaireni (see top right),
to deliver the following relief via GF local volunteer
networks and the Nepal Army:
• Food
• Hygiene & medical supplies
• Shelter materials & blankets
Medical assistance
Top: Dr. Upendra Devkota with the GF volunteers assisting at
Gorkha Hospital
GF is collaborating with RAD-AID, Dr Richard Hirsh and Radio
Mammography International, by sending a team of physicians
to assist Tribhuvan Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, which
has seen much of its equipment damaged and its manpower
stretched to deal with the large influx of injured patients
GF has been in close collaboration with Medecins sans
Frontieres to get emergency medical relief to Amppipal and
Jaubari hospitals.
Other key relief initiatives
Bottom: One of two helicopter relief missions delivering rice,
wheat, cooking oil, vegetables, tarps and clothes to the far
north of the district, where landslides have severely damaged
villages in Prok & Tsum
GF relief successfully reached the 300+ landslide victims in
the Sridibas area
What next?
For as long as donations continue, Gorkha Foundation
and our various partners will focus on the following relief:
Delivery and construction of more durable shelters,
especially aluminium/corrugated roofing where possible
Further food, hygiene and medicine supplies
Airlifting supplies to remote northern areas
Doctors to be placed in key district hospitals
and isolated villages
www.gorkhafoundation.org
WE STILL NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
An enormous THANK YOU to our supporters so far, for making this possible:
Monica Mok / Karen Kennan / Charlie & Rich Burn / Karen Cheng / Dave Wilson / Paul Hampton / Paul & Conchita Burn
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...plus our anonymous donors.
KEEP SPREADING THE WORD!
Alison & Chris Maxted