Dear donors,

You have probably already heard about this in the media: a severe natural disaster has happened in the Rasuwa region in northern Nepal. On the other side of the border with Tibet, a glacier broke off and caused a glacial lake to burst. The floodwaters shot through the valley of the Trishuli River and swept away entire settlements. Among those affected were also travel groups who, at the time, were near the border on their way to the sacred Mount Kailash - it is believed that none of them has survived. Till today the actual extent of the disaster has not yet been fully grasped. Our project villages of Bhorle and Betang are situated higher up and are not affected.

A Country that Can Do Little to Withstand the Water

What is happening in Rasuwa these days is not an isolated incident. Ram, our long-standing partner at NHEFoN, has been observing for years how heavy rainfall, glacial melt and unstable slopes along the Trishuli River are putting the region increasingly under pressure. Deforestation and changing rainfall patterns have the effect that the soil is absorbing less and less water - with consequences for roads, electricity supply and the people living on the riverbanks. The current flooding makes painfully clear how vulnerable this mountain region has become.

Coordinated Aid, Not Going It Alone

To ensure that help reaches where it is needed, the Nepalese government has drawn up a central list of required goods and is organising the collection and transport to the crisis area. Individual organisations acting on their own would cause more chaos on site than they would help. Together with NHEFoN, we have therefore made a conscious decision not to handle the distribution ourselves, but to let it be managed through the official channels – it seems that a great deal has been learnt from the earthquake disaster ten years ago. The main items needed are food, clothing, tents, medicines and blankets.

The First Consignment Has Arrived

Ram, together with his trekking colleagues and the social centre in Kathmandu, did not waste any time: using their own resources, they immediately assembled relief supplies and brought them to the military’s distribution centre in Trisuli. Photographs show helping hands sorting blankets and clothing, packing them and loading them onto a pick-up truck; shortly afterwards, soldiers of the Nepalese Army take over water bottles and bundles of relief goods for distribution in the crisis area. This first consignment - fully funded from NHEFoN’s own resources with support of local trekking guides - cost around €15,000 and reached the affected population the very next day.

Now a Second Consignment is Needed - Please Help!

With your support, we together with NHEFoN would like to fund a second – and, if possible, a third – consignment of this size. Each delivery provides around 300 families with the bare essentials. The assembly of further goods is already planned for Monday, the priorities have been agreed with the distribution centre. If enough supplies are available, the next transport could set off between mid and end of next week. Since transport and personnel costs are covered by the government, 100% of your donation will reach the crisis area.

We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all our donors to date – already by now you have made a real difference. Our thoughts are with the people of Rasuwa.

Warm regards,

Anne Peter, President, Gecotec e.V.
Ram Kumar Tamang, NHEFoN Nepal

Donation Account

Gecotec e.V. Gesellschaft f. internationalen Austausch von ECO-Technologien
IBAN: DE12 6808 0030 0411 7438 02
BIC: DRESDEFF680
Commerzbank Köln
Reference: Direkthilfe Nepal