26th April 2015 Help For Earthquake Victims In Nepal And India
The worst earthquake to hit Nepal in 80 years, the quake on Saturday morning has left Nepal devastated. Aftershocks are continuing to hit the region. The US Geological Survey has rated the magnitude of the quake as 7.9 on the Richter Scale. Nearly 2,000 have been killed and mounting. There is a huge amount of destruction to property, many of which are historical sites in Kathmandu and several other places in Nepal.
17 people have been stranded and killed on Mt. Everest in avalanches in the worst ever disaster to hit the mountain.
People survey a site damaged by an earthquake, in Kathmandu, Nepal, April 25, 2015. The shallow earthquake measuring 7.9 magnitude struck west of the ancient Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Saturday, killing more than 100 people, injuring hundreds and leaving a pall over the valley, doctors and witnesses said. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar courtesy of Globalgiving.org
Relief work has already started on the ground. Several organisations, local and international are at work to offer relief to the survivors of the earthquake.
If you are in India and are looking to help those on the ground offering relief, here are a few ways by which you can extend support through reliable organisations and initiatives:
1) The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund is directed towards providing immediate relief in case of natural disasters. This will go towards helping Indian citizens stranded in Nepal, as well ascompensation to the kin of those killed by the quake in the country. The PMO may use his discretion to extend the range of help to other victims as well. India has sent 450 NDRF members, 13 aircrafts, 6 helicopters and tonnes of food and medical supplies in a relief operation mounted just hours after the disaster struck. You can follow the rescue operations here on the MEA tweets
2) The Red Cross is known for its support systems and large global network. They also have a blood bank in Kathmandu which is now providing blood supplies to other medical facilities in the city.The donation page of Red Cross Nepal is accepting donations now.
3) World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organisation, dedicated towards working against poverty and injustice around the world, is initiating a response to meet basic, urgent needs with temporary shelter, food, water, emergency health interventions, and other vital aid. You can donate here.
4) Global Giving has also set up an online donation page to raise funds, which will first be directed towards immediate needs of the victims such as food, shelter, medical attention, and clothing. Following this, they will identify and support organisations which they believe are best suited towards providing relevant relief and aid based on long term requirements.
5) Doctors Without Borders respond quickly to the urgent medical needs of the victims. They also have a branch from India (MSFIndia), which is on ground at Nepal. Similarly, Care (with more than six decades of humanitarian work experience), Save The Children, Mercy Corps (currently has more than 90 relief workers already working in Nepal), and Direct Relief have launched disaster response programs.
6) The American Nepal Medical Foundation has sent 4-5 physicians from the US to Kathmandu to assess the situation, and is also sending out a team for trauma surgery in the next few days. Theirfundraiser can be found here.
7) Shikshya Foundation in Nepal has appealed for help in their fundraiser page saying “The immediate need on the ground is for medical support, search and rescue, emergency shelters and food and water among many other things. As the days, weeks and months go by and after the humanitarian needs are addressed, Nepal will need to begin the healing and rebuilding process.”
LOCAL CITY BASED COLLECTIONS AND COMMUNITY EFFORTS
8) The Environmental Support Group, based in Bangalore, is mobilizing funds and resources to channel towards relief efforts and organizations working on ground in Nepal. Here is a quick list of what they need: a) Monetary contributions to relief and rehabilitation of the Earthquake struck areas may be made in the following ways:
FOR WIRE TRANSFER FROM INDIAN DONORS AND FOR INDIAN DONATIONS ONLY (Foreign donors see below):
PAYEE NAME: Environment Support Group
Savings Account No.: 0-4-7-4-2-0-1-0-0-0-7-3-3-7
Please mention: <Nepal Earthquake Relief Contribution> in the narration of your online/ wire transfer form and also send an email providing transaction details and your full name and address to <disaster-relief@esgindia.org>
NAME OF BANK: Syndicate Bank
BRANCH NAME: Padmanabhanagar
IFS Code: SYNB0000676
SWIFT Code: SYNBINBB118
ADDRESS: Attimmabe Road, Padmanabhanagar, Bangalore-560070. INDIA
FOR WIRE TRANSFER FROM INDIAN DONORS AND FOR INDIAN DONATIONS ONLY (Foreign donors see below):
PAYEE NAME: Environment Support Group
Savings Account No.: 0-4-7-4-2-0-1-0-0-0-7-3-3-7
Please mention: <Nepal Earthquake Relief Contribution> in the narration of your online/ wire transfer form and also send an email providing transaction details and your full name and address to <disaster-relief@esgindia.org>
NAME OF BANK: Syndicate Bank
BRANCH NAME: Padmanabhanagar
IFS Code: SYNB0000676
SWIFT Code: SYNBINBB118
ADDRESS: Attimmabe Road, Padmanabhanagar, Bangalore-560070. INDIA
In case you prefer to mail a Cheque/DD, please write the Cheque in favour of “Environment Support Group”, payable at Bangalore. Kindly write your full name and address and mention “Nepal Earthquake Relief Contribution” on the back of the Cheque/DD and mail it to our address given above.
9) The Uday Foundation, based in New Delhi has put together a required list of Urgent Relief Material and Medicines. Their drop-off location is at the Uday Foundation, 113A, Sri Aurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110017 Phone : 011-26561333/444. More updates will be posted on their Facebookpage.
10) GOONJ: GOONJ is a Delhi-based non-profit that is known for its widespread efforts in reaching out with material and volunteers during disasters. As of April 26, the Goonj Facebook page has an update requesting people to start collecting items in this list. You can mail them at mail@goonj.org for more information.
11) You can also access this fundraiser on Milaap’s platform to support survival in the time of need until shelter and safety is obtained. The amount collected will be donated to either CARE/ Red Cross/Global Giving. This fundraiser raised by Shereen Bhan also goes to Care India to support the putting together of survival kits for the victims.
12) Indian Express Citizen’s Relief Fund is requesting contributions where you can mail cheques to The Indian Express, C-5, Institutional Area, Sector 6, Panchkula 134109, Haryana.
Also note that the next time you take an Uber ride, you can contribute Rs.10 through the Uber app by entering the promo code “HELPNEPAL”. See their blogpost here for more details. They will donate the proceeds to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
VOLUNTEER ONLINE
In the past, online volunteers working from home have worked on mapping disaster affected areas. They search for tweets and facebook posts to understand which areas need help, and put together resources that will direct funds and efforts where it is needed most.
If you have any information about people, you can contribute to the Google Person Finder set up for Nepal.
The Standby Task Force already has an online team deployed, actively mapping the crisis situation. You can follow their work here and sign up to help out with your skills here.
The OpenStreetMap Project has a list of tasks that need to be completed, so that these maps can be used offline. Most of the affected areas are really remote habitations, sometimes with no road access. Maps are crucial at this point for ground rescue workers to plan routes and assess damage quickly. This collaborative mapping tool distributes tasks to online contributors and volunteers. You can start by reading a beginner’s introduction to the process, and then head here to see whattasks need to be done. (Thanks to PlaneMad for the heads-up)
At present, there is a Mapbox team working in support of this project at their office in Bangalorelocated at No. 221, 2nd Floor, 13th Cross, Indiranagar on the Week of April 26th. You can access thedetails of their meet and the online Datameet page here. There is also a Delhi chapter of the same who will be meeting from the 27th of April onwards at 2 PM at various offices in Delhi. More details on their Google Group.
We will update this list as and when more relief links are set up and we can put together a list of credible organisations (those that are listed on GiveIndia.org/GuideStarIndia, those organisations we have worked with), so do check back to see how else you can help! Reach out help Nepal right away!
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