What UMN is Doing
- Immediate support to local Christian organisations trained in disaster response, with whom we have a long relationship – Rescue Nepal Network and Nepal Christian Relief Services. RNN has been providing relief materials to village communities around the outskirts of the Kathmandu Valley. NCRS will be working in remote parts of Gorkha district.
- Medical assistance: Two UMN doctors from United Mission Hospital Tansen went with an INF team to remote villages in Gorkha in the immediate aftermath of the quake. A team of paramedics from Tansen is currently on its way to Dhading district to assist there.
- Outreach from UMN hospitals: Although damage and injury in Palpa (the district surrounding Tansen) and Okhaldhunga has not been widespread, both hospitals have provided emergency relief in their immediate vicinities.
- Relief work in Dhading district: UMN and its partners work in seven Village Development Committee areas in badly-hit Dhading district, four of which are in the far north, with no road access and very limited government services. UMN is focusing its relief and rehabilitation work in those VDCs. Procuring appropriate relief supplies and then transporting them over narrow, dangerous walking paths is challenging!
- Relief work in Nawalparasi district: Our local staff report considerable damage in villages in the northern part of the district. Assessments are taking place, and we expect relief operations to begin as soon as we have adequate knowledge of the situation.
- Mental health support: Traumatic events can have a devastating effect on people’s mental health. UMN’s Mental Health Adviser Dr Stephen Coulter has been providing information sessions for staff and community to help them understand the normal reactions to trauma, and how they can best deal with these.
