New Zealand Red Cross aid workers support urgent relief efforts in Nepal
Two New Zealand Red Cross aid workers leave for Nepal today as the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) calls
for a greater urgency in relief efforts following the devastating earthquake in Nepal.
Donna Collin a nurse and midwife from Whangarei, will be joining an IFRC team supporting Nepal Red Cross to carry out
health assessments in villages outside the Kathmandu Valley.
Jacqui Dixon an aid worker from Morrinsville will be coordinating staff safety and security for Red Cross teams across
Nepal.
IFRC said on Thursday they were extremely concerned about the welfare of hundreds of thousands of people, with those in
remote areas outside the Kathmandu Valley facing an unknown fate. Red Cross assessment teams are reporting that some
towns and villages in the worst-affected districts close to the epicentre have suffered almost total devastation. Local
residents are in a desperate situation.
“One of our teams that returned from Chautara in Sindupalchowk district reported that 90 per cent of the homes are
destroyed. The hospital has collapsed, and people are digging through the rubble with their hands in the hope that they
might find family members who are still alive,” said Jagan Chapagain, Director of IFRC’s Asia Pacific operations. “We
can expect the situation to be the same if not worse in many other places where aid has not yet been delivered.”
There are estimates that up to 40,000 homes in Sindupalchowk alone have been destroyed.
With so many families in need, the Nepal Red Cross Society has almost exhausted its relief stocks which were sufficient
for 19,000 families. Every day, Red Cross volunteers have been distributing tarpaulins in affected areas, to shelter
thousands of people who remain too afraid to return home because of aftershocks and damage to their homes.
The priority now is to move relief efforts to more remote areas.
“We know what the needs are and Nepal Red Cross volunteers are ready in every district to distribute relief. The
challenge now is bringing sufficient quantities into the country,” explained Mr Chapagain.
The amount of emergency aid needed for such a large-scale disaster outstrips the capacity of Kathmandu’s small
international airport, which is receiving an extremely high volume of aid flights now coming into Nepal.
IFRC teams on the ground remain focused on reaching people with emergency shelter, together with blankets, cooking sets,
water containers and other basic household items.
Red Cross is also addressing curative and preventive health needs of communities by setting up basic health care units –
designed for 30,000 people for four months - in areas where health facilities have collapsed.
“Many people are coming to Nepal Red Cross health posts with untreated wounds and our health teams are seeing an
increase in cases of flu and respiratory problems, particularly amongst the young and elderly,” said Mr Chapagain.
“Another priority is to set up water supply points and improve sanitation in areas where there a lot of displaced people
camped out in the open. We need to stem the risk of disease where families have no regular access to clean water.”
ENDS