Two years ago, on April 25th, 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal. The devastation was immediate and far-reaching. More than 3.5 million people lost their home, more than 22,000 people suffered injuries, and more than 8,800 people died. The Nepali government asked One Heart World-Wide to help rebuild health care centers in our program areas. Two years later we remain committed to support the people of Nepal as they rebuild their lives today and in the years to come.
Many of the locations that saw the most damage from the earthquakes are remote, rural areas that have limited access to transportation and were already lacking a proper healthcare infrastructure before the earthquakes. These areas have rates of maternal and neonatal mortality that are 2-5 times higher than the national average.
OHW focuses on remote, rural areas that are widely overlooked by most other aid organizations. We are also rebuilding health posts and committed to building them back better. In collaboration with the Nepali government we have redesigned the health centers to be more earthquake resistant. As a result, the general population will have access to a better health center and pregnant women will have access to a safe and clean place to give birth at a fully-equipped and certified birthing center.
Our program will support more than 16,000 pregnancies in Dhading and Sindhupalchok each year. Local ownership ensures that our programs are sustainable and well-managed in the long-term. By ensuring access to healthcare and health education, we empower families in some of the most remote communities in the world. For many families, the facilities where OHW works is their only contact with the public health system, thereby bringing them into a continuity of medical care.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
