Unprecedented Disaster Strikes Nepal

Dear Friends, I am trying to hit a balance between not overloading folks with information but still keeping our partners informed. Given the outpouring of support and the great levels of concern, I am erring on the side of sharing as much as possible for now. Let me begin once again with thanks to all of you who have so generously given. Many of you are new to the Engage Nepal family of donors and some of you are new since our last update two days ago. It truly is inspiring to see such kindness and compassion in action. As things settle, I'll try to reach out personally, but, for now, please know the depth of our thanks and that your support is truly reaching those who were victims of the catastrophic flash flood that stunned us all with its ferocity last week. I also want to assure you that Engage Nepal is moving rapidly to structure an effective and sustained response. To do so, however, requires care and effective coordination. We are fortunate to have had teams on the ground who are offering first hand assessments. Those reports help to underpin the extensive conversations we have had with municipal and district leaders in an effort to avoid duplication of effort and the misallocation of resources. As a result of those engagements, we now have received both Permission for Program Implementation from Bidur Municipality and also approval from the Government of Nepal Social Welfare Council. These approvals open the way for our expanded response. I have attached the letter exchange for those who are interested in seeing how a project like this unfolds and, given the eventual size of this effort, we want to ensure we have a clear and transparent record of the process. I have also attached to this message our updated list of the priority items we are providing on an urgent basis.. Please take a look. Procurement has begun and plans for transport and porters are under way. We have sent another $25K to our partners to cover the costs, bringing our overall support to $30K so far. More will be on its way in the days ahead thanks to you and to the support of the Heinz Family Foundation. No matter the source -- private donors, philanthropic partners, or online crypto communities -- we can assure you that we'll continue to direct all our efforts to helping the people of Nepal in this time of need. Over the coming days, Om Thapaliya of HomeNet Nepal who is coordinating our response on the ground, will be traveling to Nuwakot to meet with leaders there but also, and most critically, the affected families. Folllowing his return we'll be better positioned to determine our next step. Meanwhile, another partner, the Trans-Himalayan Women Livelihood and Environment Program, is sending a team of local guides into the more remote areas to assess the needs there. Still another of our partners, the Binaytara Foundation, is coordinating with us on immediate relief needs to ensure we complement each other's efforts. And, as health care professionals specializing in cancer care, they are standing by to provide assistance to any suffering from cancer whose treatment and care is at risk due to the degradation of the health infrastructure. This is just the beginning. The road ahead will be long but, with your help, we will walk every step of it with those whose lives have been derailed by this deadly climate event. If you have not yet donated, please, consider giving now. And if you have already donated but want to so again, we won't say no! 😀 Finally, if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us. Until next time, thank you for reading and thank you for caring. Namaste Scott Ambassador (ret) Scott DeLisi Executive Director Engage Nepal