A Long Year

| April 25, 2016

Looking back at a year of MAF serving the recovery effort in Nepal

Mansari was working along cliffs in Kashiguan, Nepal, gathering fodder to feed her animals when a rock that had been loosened during earlier earthquakes fell on her head. The 23-year-old fell 350m to the bottom of the cliff, where her parents found her unconscious but still breathing. They brought her to the Phase Nepal health post, where staff quickly arranged a helicopter through MAF. She was treated at a hospital in Kathmandu and her life was saved.

This is just one of the many people who have been impacted by the Nepal earthquakes, and it’s one example of how MAF’s organized helicopter service is making a difference in a country that is still reeling from the after effects of this disaster.

Here’s a look back over the past year at the damage done by the earthquakes and the difference MAF’s disaster response has made, thanks to the Lord working through generous donors.

Damaged houses in Nepal near the epicenter of the 7.4 earthquake on Tuesday, 12 May.

Photo by Dave Forney.

Last spring, multiple earthquakes flattened entire villages—leaving thousands dead and millions in desperate situations.

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Photo by Dave Forney.

Landslides cut off roads and footpaths, making it impossible for aid to reach some of the hardest-hit villages.

The MAF Nepal office got a little more colorful this morning when several Buddhist monks from Lumbini Social Service Foundation arrived to book flights to the Tsum Valley and Bagang. The group had just returned from a helicopter flight to a remote and severely damaged area called Bigu to deliver relief food and tarps. Tenzen Lama worked with Brent to find the exact GPS coordinates on Google Earth for their next flight, not always an easy task. He shared photos of some of the destruction and explained that landslides have made it extremely difficult to get into this area.

Photo by LuAnne Cadd.

When word got out that MAF was organizing flights, MAF’s “command center” was buzzing as soon as the doors opened. Photo by LuAnne Cadd.

A MAF-coordinated helicopter flies to Shyala at 3543 meters (11,627 feet) for Mountain Child to deliver much-needed food and shelter aid following the Nepal earthquake. Mountain Child is a Christian NGO focused on the ethnic Tibetan people groups living throughout the Himalayas on the Nepal-China border, with special attention directed to the Nupri people who are one of an estimated 25 ethnic Tibetan people groups. The Nupri region suffered damage to structures in the recent earthquake, including four schools that Mountain Child supports. The earthquake also caused significant damage to the footpath, the only access into and out of the region, from landslides, and broken bridges making the trek difficult and dangerous, and impossible for the donkeys to travel on. Mountain Child has been flying into Nupri on MAF-coordinated helicopters an average of two days per week since MAF began the subsidized service, bringing in food and shelter materials, including large canvas tents to allow the schools to resume.

Photo by LuAnne Cadd.

Groups quickly signed up to bring food and supplies to devastated communities.

Anchored Relief-Promise Child in Nepal Earthquake Relief

Photo by LuAnne Cadd.

Medevac flights brought critical patients to the hospital in Kathmandu.

In Nepal, Médecins du Monde (MdM), or Doctors of the World, flew two Nepali nurses and a Logistics Officer to the small village of Kattike in Golche where MdM has been running a mobile clinic following the first major earthquake on 25 April. The second 7.4 earthquake on 12 May caused multiple landslides that blocked the roads into Kattike, so MdM flew replacement staff to the clinic via a MAF-coordinated helicopter. The clinic is currently treating from 60 to 80 patients per day, some with illnesses, and some with serious wounds caused by the earthquake. MAF's Micheal Bottrell flew with the medical team to assist in packing the luggage into cargo space quickly so the helicopter would not have to shut down.

A Médecins du Monde (MdM) mobile clinic in Kattike, where 60 to 80 patients were treated per day,  some with serious wounds caused by the earthquake. Photo courtesy of MdM.

Thanks to MAF’s coordinated flights, Médecins du Monde (MdM) was able to set up temporary clinics to treat the people. In one location, they were able to avert a serious Shigella dysentery outbreak.

Tents-Schools

Photo courtesy of Mountain Child.

Mountain Child’s remote schools were able to continue when MAF flew in 60 large canvas tents via sling load—cargo suspended by cable beneath the helicopter. The tents served as temporary classrooms and boarding facilities, enabling the schools to keep running and preventing vulnerable children from falling into the hands of traffickers.

Anchored Relief-Promise Child in Nepal Earthquake Relief

Photo by LuAnne Cadd.

The road to recovery is a long one for the people of Nepal, as they rebuild their homes and their livelihoods.

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Photo by Dave Forney.

 

MAF is still in Nepal to help with recovery efforts and is taking steps towards having a long-term presence in the country.

Thank you for remembering the people of Nepal today. Please continue to pray for them and the groups that are serving there. And please pray for MAF’s leadership as they determine the best way to continue serving in this beautiful, rugged country. If the Lord is prompting your heart, please consider giving toward MAF’s future efforts in Nepal.

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