Nepal Quake: Support communities' recovery

Nepal Earthquake Response: Food pack distribution for 500 families in a mountainous region

As Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD)'s secretariat, Civic Force and Peace Winds Japan’s joint mission, in parallel with medical support, continued to distribute relief goods on May 6th.

In order to efficiently deliver the ration packs, we collaborated beyond sectoral borders with the government, businesses and NGOs and cooperated with local volunteers as well as a Japanese company manufacturing goods in Nepal.

In Khubinde village located within Sindapalchowk district, it is believed that approximately 95% of the houses have been partially or completely destroyed. Following the distribution of 200 ration packs last May 2nd, the joint team loaded 9 vehicles with relief goods, and provided packs each containing 25 kilos of rice, 1 liter of cooking oil, 4 kilos of lentils, and 1 kilo of salt to 500 affected households.

Chihiro Taguchi, Manager for Nepal of Motherhouse, Ltd. (CEO Eriko Yamaguchi), which provided space for the repacking or relief goods, as well as prominent Nepalese social activist Susmita Maskey also supported our team in today’s distribution. Ms. Taniguchi says “It is the first time for me to collaborate with an NGO and participate in the distribution of relief goods. I was impressed at the fact that the goods were delivered to the affected through a number of steps.”

Through the support of many, we were able to provide relief to those in the remote areas. However, because of the severity of the damage last month’s earthquake has caused, there is still a huge number of people who require aid. One of the local resident who lost her daughter in law in the earthquake expressed sadly “My daughter in law was trapped under the rubble. My two grandchildren left are still young and they won’t understand that their mother has died. We have lost everything.”

For more detail, please find attached activity video.

Links:

• https://youtu.be/xhBxqAQU6iA

As Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (A-PAD)'s secretariat, Civic Force is supporting its mission on the ground. A-PAD and Peace Winds Japan’s (PWJ) joint emergency mission arrived on separate flights in Kathmandu on April 27 and 28.

Since then, the team has been coordinating with local partner National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSET) and other entities on the ground to collect information and plan appropriate emergency response activities.

PWJ’s SAR team and dogs visited the Dutch rescue team’s base camp to discuss the locations that are in most need of search and rescue before setting off for the affected areas. They immediately set off for for the collapsed rubble of a guesthouse in Kathmandu where 10 people are believed to be trapped inside. The two search dogs, Halc and Yumenosuke, began to look around for any signs of life but unfortunately could not find any. They will continue their SAR mission on April 29 at Sindupalchowk where more than 1,400 people are now known to have died.

Meanwhile, A-PAD’s assessment team will continue to gather information and coordinate with local organizations. They plan to set out for the town of Sankh, where reports have indicated received severe damage from the earthquake, and conduct an assessment of the humanitarian situation upon reaching the area.

In Kathmandu, our team observes that the survivors are making do with little supplies camped out in tents or under plastic sheets outside in the rain.

We will do our best to relay the situation and updates on our activities from the ground. We thank you for your continuous interest in our activities and for your support.

Links:

• Nepal earthquake response: A-PAD/PWJ team begins response in Kat