Nepal Earthquake Update 4/25

Today a massive 7.8 earthquake in Nepal, the worst in 80 years has reduced much of Kathmandu to rubble. In addition, there have been 43 aftershocks in the last 8 hours with more likely to come.

Utah based CHOICE Humanitarian works with 180 villages in the Lamjung district of Nepal, the epicenter of today’s deadly earthquake. All members of the CHOICE team and their families have been accounted for and are physically safe, but emotional overwhelmed. Many stood in open fields for hours to be safe during the aftershocks.

Our team there is working to verify that all family and villages we are connected to are safe or otherwise assess their needs. The major bridge connecting Kathmandu to the western part of Nepal, including Pokhara and Lamjung is understood to have collapsed and, therefore, inaccessible by vehicle.

For 32 years, CHOICE has worked to end extreme poverty by empowering those who live on less than $1.25 a day with leadership skills to create their own paths out of poverty. For some time, CHOICE has been scaling this work from a single village model to an entire region in Lamjung. Once this happens in 180 villages in this one rural district in Nepal, the Nepali government has indicated a willingness to replicate this approach in the other 74 rural districts, helping Nepal to become the first less developed country in the world to end extreme poverty.

Bishnu is working with the Nepal government to unite with them in developing a coordinated response and relief effort. Our stateside staff and team of experts are actively coordinating efforts locally to see that we have a comprehensive plan to help out in this area that we have worked in for so long and that means so much to CHOICE Humanitarian and those connected with us.

We are very grateful for the tremendous response from the community. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!