A Year After Devastating Earthquake, Honoree Org HRDC Has Provided Care to Thousands of Child Victims

Posted April 25, 2016

On April 25, 2015, a 7.8M earthquake struck Nepal, killing over 8,000 people and injuring over 20,000 more. The earthquake was just the first of many smaller quakes which continue to shake the country, one of the poorest in the world. Within 24 hours of the devastating quake, HRDC dispatched its first relief teams. In the year since then, the organization’s Emergency Surveillance and Response (ESAR) Initiative has conducted 98 outreach camps, provided services to 45,000 people, including surgeries to children injured in the quake.

One year on, we are remembering the victims of the fatal earthquake and celebrating the dedication of teams like Honoree Dr. Ashok Banskota‘s HRDC in serving the affected children. The following photos provide a small idea of what the children of Nepal have faced over the last year – and how HRDC has helped them to survive and begin rebuilding their lives.

Initial ESAR camps focused on screening for earthquake related injuries that required hospitalization and treatment. When possible, patients were transferred to the HRDC hospital facility in Kathmandu for surgeries and rehabilitative care. Camps also focused on providing basic supplies – food, water, and dignity kits to families who had lost everything.

As the months went by, HRDC began seeing fewer children presenting with injuries sustained in the quake. They began seeing more children with medical complications due to living long-term in open shelters – conditions caused by lack of clean drinking water, improper sanitation, inadequate nutrition,  post-traumatic stress, and injuries sustained while clearing debris.

Children transferred to the Kathmandu facility were provided with consultations…

Surgical intervention…

And appropriate follow up care, including orthopedic devices, physical therapy, and social re-integration support.

In 2015, HRDC also opened its own school, to provide children with educational opportunities while they are receiving treatment and recovering at the HRDC facility. 617 children attended the school last year, which helped to ensure they did not fall behind in their studies during lengthy recuperative stays.

We are truly inspired by the resilience so many children and families have shown in the last year and by the dedication of the HRDC team, led by Dr. Banskota.

To honor Dr. Banskota’s continued commitment to children and to continue funding his incredibly important work, we invited him to receive a 2016 Alumni Award in Beverly Hills, CA earlier this month.

We were grateful that Dr. Banskota, his wife Padma, and their son, Dr. Bibek Banskota, were able to join us and share more about their work on behalf of Nepal’s children, especially in the wake of the 2015 quakes.

The Dr.’s Banskota shared that HRDC will use World of Children funding to provide medical consultation to 300 children in remote districts of Nepal. They will also perform 75 surgeries and provide 125 orthopedic assistive devices to children in need. We are incredibly grateful to be part of this important work of rebuilding and restoring children’s lives in the wake of disaster. Join us by making a tax-deductible donation to World of Children here.