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When disasters strike, they don’t discriminate between rich or poor, healthy or sick, but often those less fortunate are the ones that are most affected.
As ShelterBox response teams first arrived in Nepal to help communities devastated by this spring’s massive earthquakes, they made it a priority to embed themselves in relief hubs where organisations gathered to coordinate their efforts. In doing so, they were able to share information and resources, and also ensure that no settlements, no matter how remote, were left without aid.
In Chautara, the aid hub in the mountainous district of Sindhupalchok, ShelterBox response team member Liz Odell came across a small local organisation called the MirMire Group. The group works for the prevention of AIDS and HIV in the district and was looking for shelter assistance for people living with the illnesses.
Keepak Tamang, chairperson of the group explained how there is a stigma around having AIDS and HIV in the region, which means that some people do not register themselves as having an illness, while others are side-lined and unable to have access to all of the facilities they need.
The earthquakes had not only left many vulnerable people without shelter and the means to rebuild, but had stopped the delivery of antiretroviral drugs and highly nutritious food supplements that help people to stay healthy and fight against the infection.
Therefore, ShelterBox decided to work with the MirMire Group to distribute tents in the village of Melamchi to a group of 25 people that they have been supporting. In doing so, the team were able to ensure that this group of people had somewhere warm and dry to stay and were also able to deliver vital supplements at the same time.
Keepak told us how they were already seeing the impact of support, antiretroviral drugs and supplements on this group. A mother with HIV had just given birth to a child without the illness, showing the effectiveness of the therapy and providing everyone with reinforced hopes for the future.
We are committed to helping the people of Nepal recover from the earthquakes, and are currently working in partnership with French aid organisation ACTED to provide shelter kits in the region of Dolakha. These kits contain a variety of materials, which have been procured locally to help support the local economy, that will enable people to rebuild their homes and communities again.
