Kathmandu, Nepal—On Saturday, April 25, 2015, at noon local time, an earthquake measuring 7.9 in magnitude shook central Nepal causing thousands of casualties and leaving multitudes more injured or missing. Buildings collapsed, roads are blocked, and many in rural areas experienced deadly landslides. Waves of aftershocks only intensified the chaos, which is said to have affected an area populated by at least 6 million people. Sadly, the number of causalities is expected to rise and the threat of widespread disease, power outages, and aftershocks will only impede recovery efforts. “The situation is desperate and requires immediate action if we are to save many who have been left orphaned, homeless, or injured,” said World Help president Vernon Brewer.
“We finished our Saturday fellowship at 11.45 and were coming to our rooms when suddenly, everything started to move,” said Dolma, a program director for one of World Help’s 18 child sponsorship outreaches in Nepal. “All the children were so afraid, some were crying and some were praying. It is difficult to express how terrifying it was . . . everyone was trembling. We’ve been eating and sleeping outside for safety.”
World Help is responding to victims of the disaster by distributing immediate aid through our existing emergency teams on the ground—food, clean water, medical supplies, and other critical aid items. Support for this ongoing assistance is critical in the hours and days ahead as thousands—perhaps millions—are expected to require emergency assistance. The UN estimates that over 1.7 million children are in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. Any donations can be made directly at worldhelp.net/Nepal.
In addition, an international development team from World Help was deployed to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Monday, April 27 to determine crisis relief priorities and begin developing a strategic plan for ongoing programs that will focus on long-term restoration. The World Help team has seen thousands sleeping outside or in makeshift tents with little or nothing to eat. The need for assistance is overwhelming with over 8 million people impacted by the earthquake. With the rainy season just weeks away, the immediate challenge is providing shelter for the hundreds of thousands whose homes have been destroyed.
In the past decade alone, World Help has provided this type of strategic disaster assistance for millions of people, including victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated in the Philippines in 2013.
“ . . . When we don’t respond, or don’t respond quickly enough, we compound these disasters in a way that causes all kinds of subsequent problems like political instability, abject poverty, and disease,” Brewer shared in an article for Fox News.
World Help has worked in Nepal since 1997 and has partnered alongside supporters to build 452 church buildings, 8 medical clinics, and 28 clean-water projects. Currently, they facilitate 18 Child Sponsorship Programs throughout Nepal, which care for nearly 400 orphaned and disadvantaged children.
About World Help: World Help is a Christian humanitarian organization founded in 1991 to serve the physical and spiritual needs of people in impoverished communities around the world, providing “help for today and hope for tomorrow.” It is a Four Star Charity Navigator rated international humanitarian organization.
For more information regarding Nepal earthquake relief efforts, visit worldhelp.net/Nepal.
World Help
P.O. Box 501
Forest, VA 24551
www.worldhelp.net
