(NEPAL) It is my privilege to work with World Renew and be part of the front lines when major disasters strike. Following the April 25 devastating earthquake in Nepal, I quickly made plans to travel there myself and begin to coordinate World Renew’s response.
I arrived in Nepal 12 days after the earthquake. I could have arrived earlier, but I knew that I would want to stay in Nepal for at least 4 weeks. I also remembered how burnt out I became when I travelled to the Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. I therefore decided to refuel with family and be nourished before I came.
I also recruited a team of four to travel to Nepal with me, including World Renew International Relief Managers (IRMs) Pete Diepersloot and Harry and Annie Bergshoeff, as well as Indra who is a WASH specialist.
This was a lesson learned from the Haiyan response and has allowed me to share the weight of designing a program and opening up a World Renew office in Nepal. It reminds me of the power failures I experienced in Haiti where the city rotates the electricity, known as “load sharing.” I gladly share the load of the start-up of this response.
Three days after the earthquake, before I even arrived, World Renew wired funds to Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM) staff who started distributing relief items with their partner church plants and partner seminary. They have done an amazing job of reaching areas where they had presence with daughter churches. We are so blessed to have a cadre of professional passionate people wanting to respond in deed to their communities.
Some of those involved in the initial response are now on staff with the World Renew staff that I brought in to be part of what I am calling the World Renew Disaster Response Team – Nepal.
World Renew Bangladesh is also coming up to help, with training in QuickBooks and helping to co-manage the response when I leave June 1st until my return at the end of June. This has been a real collaborative effort.
The unexpected second earthquake (7.3 magnitute) of Wednesday May 12 did throw me for a loop. Thank goodness I was on the ground floor having lunch in the home of a kind pastor’s wife because we could quickly run out – no tear outside as quickly as possible.
The buildings were swaying 2-3 inches or more and the ground felt like standing in the ripples of a little wave but you could sense it was coming from somewhere deep. There was a low rumbling sound, like a train not here yet. The quake didn't stop for 20 seconds or more so you really wondered about it, kind of an eerie feeling. I was in a neighbourhood of two-story houses. Other people I talked with afterwardswho were at a hotel of four stories and large buildings said the buildings were really shaking.
Another narrow four-story building, (a gal we work with saw), said it looked like Jell-O. You just have to get to open space. Though I wasn't afraid, more in wonder, my stomach felt like it was in knots for a while after so I know it affected me. I think we were giddy even that night or punchy because we were all joking, which was probably a psychological reaction.
My heart goes out to those affected, again this second time. For some who were just starting to get back to a sense of normal, it brought back all their fears again. The earthquake from 18 days earlier at 7.8 they said was 10 times worse, so they were naturally so scared again. Buildings that weren’t completely destroyed in the first disaster now were flattened. That night many more people in the city slept outside in fear of aftershocks, besides those who already lost theirs; some in basketball courts and courtyards everywhere. There are tent cities in any parks or open spaces.
My room is on the ground floor of a guest house and right near the front door so that night we could run out again if needed, and we did twice with two smaller aftershocks. They have alarms on their houses that sense movement, which can wake you up. As it sits on a fault, some of Kathmandu has become prepared in the last few years. There were four young women staff at the guest house who were afraid to sleep in the basement floor and had decided to sleep in the hall at the front door. Instead two of them came in and slept in my room which is large. I already share it with the consultant on water and sanitation on our team that I brought in from Indonesia, what’s two more. I had to wake one of the girls up and haul her out in the night when the smaller aftershocks happened. They were so appreciative. The next day we were kind of tired but not too strained. Shops and restaurants were all closed because so many people were leaving the city in fear and heading out to their home villages where they used to live. Who knows what they would find there. Thankfully, the couple here serving with CRWM made us a lovely dinner.
I attended the CRC church May 10th in the regular sanctuary after the first earthquake but with the second earthquake, new cracks appeared in the building, so the service on the 16th was held outdoors. Beautiful canopies were set up for the temporary church and the electricity was working so we had great music and time of prayer.
We set up our office at the seminary because the school is closed for the summer. Some of the staff were concerned about us going up to the second floor space the next day, but we are not worried as the building didn't fall down in either of the earthquakes. So many of my World Renew projects have been earthquakes (Tsunami, Java, Padang, Jogyakarta, etc,) that I am not afraid. So on with the work.
We are doing a deeper needs assessment to not only provide a second wave of emergency relief items to new target locations, but also to collect data to design longer term responses. We are having some success with procurement but tents prove to be an issue still so we are trying to bring them up from India, in coordination with World Renew’s partner EFICOR. Coordinating with the Nepalese government and UN takes time as well, but is so important so that we don’t overlap. Once again, I am so glad to have come in with a team to help with the many facets of this process.
Thanks for all your prayers that have kept me safe. Please continue to pray for wisdom and discernment.
Blessings,
Grace Wiebe
Senior Project Manager
International Disaster Response & Rehabilitation
