Nepal Disaster
Aquabox's Response
(We are grateful to Aquabox for providing this information and all the pictures, which are the copyright of Aquabox)
Rapid response to the Flash Floods in Nepal
41 Aqua-aid boxes despatched in 36 hours
Nepal’s deadliest natural disaster in recent history, with over 1,350 confirmed deaths, nearly 5,000 missing, and widespread destruction, highlights that having strategic stock on the ground in areas where disasters happen on a regular basis is important and vital in situations where the event is so devasting. We have been sending aid to Nepal for many years where it is held for rapid response.
On August 27th when the flood happened, we had 41 Aqua-Aid boxes already in Kathmandu. With the help of Disaster Aid Nepal and the Rotary Club of Kathmandu Circle, they were successfully deployed to the Jajarkot and Bajura Districts to support displaced families. In these two areas alone, the disaster has forced many families from their homes, leaving them in urgent need of safe drinking water and essential supplies.
100 more family filters are on their way
In addition one of our partners, Operation Orphan, sent a team to Nepal last week on a mission to support children and displaced families who have lost their homes during the floods. The Operation Orphan team have also taken 100 family filters with them to support their work.
Next steps
As the search and rescue phase turns to helping those displaced families, clean, drinking water will become a focus. Our first consignment of 7 pallets (1260) of family filters, and 1 pallet (15) of community filters is ready for despatch from our depot. Each family filter will provide clean water for an extended family of 12, and our community filter being ideal for a field hospital, school or community hub, each one providing water for 500. This is a total of over 22,000 people displaced in Nepal having access to clean water.
Our delivery partners for this shipment are FireAid, AirLink and Blink Now Foundation.
Roger Cassidy, our chair of Trustees said, “The shipment itself represents only one part of a complex humanitarian operation, with freight, customs clearance and onward distribution all requiring close coordination between international partners. Reaching communities in some of the worst-affected areas remains a significant logistical challenge, with the final stages of distribution particularly difficult to coordinate”.
Roger added, “We are delighted that the British Embassy is to act as the consignee for this shipment thus speeding up the normally difficult customs situation that can delay aid. This represented a particularly welcome development in efforts to move the latest consignment swiftly”.
Jane preparing the eight pallets ready for shipment to Nepal