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Traumatized survivors of Nepal flooding need more than food and shelter · INSIGHT TODAY

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  Speaker 1: For more on the situation on the ground, we have
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  Speaker 1: reached Anup Rana in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. He is Field
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  Speaker 1: Operations Director for World Vision International Nepal. Anup, thanks so
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  Speaker 1: much for making time for us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much to have connected with you and
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  Speaker 2: to explain about the situation here in Nepal.
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  Speaker 1: Please do, sir. So let me begin by asking you,
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  Speaker 1: what is the nature of the work your team is
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  Speaker 1: doing as a result of the floods?
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  Speaker 2: World Vision, it's a humanitarian organization and it's operating in
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  Speaker 2: the country for the last 25 years. And immediately after
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  Speaker 2: the flash floods hit, we were on the ground to assess,
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  Speaker 2: to see what the situation is, to check with the
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  Speaker 2: communities and also particularly with children because World Vision is
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  Speaker 2: a child-focused organization. And the assessment has revealed there's a
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  Speaker 2: dire need for children especially This is not only humanitarian response.
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  Speaker 2: This is also about child protection and also the child
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  Speaker 2: well-being is jeopardized. So in that premises, we were able
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  Speaker 2: to provide food assistance to 900 people, some water purifiers
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  Speaker 2: for 900 people. Likewise, some of the hygiene kits and
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  Speaker 2: some of the non-food items, especially on shelter. So these
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  Speaker 2: were immediately provided to this population so that they could
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  Speaker 2: have some you know, to meet with their basic needs.
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  Speaker 1: Anup, I know you're in Kathmandu and your team is
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  Speaker 1: on the ground in the affected region. I mean, we
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  Speaker 1: show images of the devastation there. It's so catastrophic. It's
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  Speaker 1: hard to imagine what that's like. What are the team
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  Speaker 1: members telling you about the working conditions there?
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  Speaker 2: It is really unbelievable for them.
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  Speaker 3: They never thought of it.
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  Speaker 2: We, World Vision team, met with a girl child who
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  Speaker 2: was about to eat her meal in the morning before
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  Speaker 2: going to school. And she heard a noise that, okay,
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  Speaker 2: this flood is coming. She with her family, they went
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  Speaker 2: to the uphill. And that's how she and her family survived.
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  Speaker 2: But her house was completely swept away. So this was one,
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  Speaker 2: you know, case. where it is representation of many. And
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  Speaker 2: there was also families who had lost their dear ones,
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  Speaker 2: and especially the children, they were not able to run,
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  Speaker 2: and elderly people. There was a pregnant woman whose mother-in-law
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  Speaker 2: was citing that because she was pregnant and she could
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  Speaker 2: not run fast uphill, and her daughter-in-law was swept away.
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  Speaker 2: So this was the real stories that we could pull
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  Speaker 2: while having interaction with these different vulnerable, especially after the
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  Speaker 2: flood effect.
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  Speaker 1: You know, thousands of people are still missing. And add
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  Speaker 1: to that, so many thousands have been forced to flee
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  Speaker 1: their communities. Our colleague who's on the ground in Nepal
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  Speaker 1: was speaking to people who got a chance to come
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  Speaker 1: back just to see what's left behind. Do you think
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  Speaker 1: many of these individuals who've been forced out will be
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  Speaker 1: able to return to a home, a community?
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  Speaker 2: This is, again, is somewhat psychosocially traumatized. The people, they
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  Speaker 2: have their place where they have emotional touch.
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  Speaker 3: They have, you know, raised in those places.
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  Speaker 2: But when they see nothing they're left behind, it's really
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  Speaker 2: traumatizing for them. Even the houses that they have left
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  Speaker 2: they are fearful to reach even there.
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  Speaker 3: And they have a feeling that should we again go
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  Speaker 3: back and live there?
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  Speaker 2: So this is again is somewhere they have like, you know,
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  Speaker 2: the trauma and also they are not in a good
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  Speaker 2: position where the.
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  Speaker 3: Fear still prevail.
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  Speaker 2: And to go back to those places is something they
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  Speaker 2: have to think twice.
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  Speaker 1: Where are all these residents being housed? If all of
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  Speaker 1: a sudden a thousand people are displaced in one community,
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  Speaker 1: Where do they go? Where are they sleeping at night?
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  Speaker 2: There are some arrangements that are actually arranged from the government.
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  Speaker 2: Some of them, they went to their relatives and friends
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  Speaker 2: in different places in the uphill. And there are also
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  Speaker 2: remaining what you call the community meetings. shelters, some of
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  Speaker 2: the makeshift temporary holding centers, where there are around 19, roughly,
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  Speaker 2: those are the holding centers where this.
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  Speaker 3: Population, they are accommodated.
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  Speaker 2: And this is, again, is another issue where the population
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  Speaker 2: is densely congested in space.
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  Speaker 3: They are staying.
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  Speaker 2: And for them, again, the facilities, especially on hygiene and
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  Speaker 2: sanitation is an issue. where they need to again share
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  Speaker 2: some of those facilities. So these are the population who
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  Speaker 2: has come to these temporary makeshift shelters.
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  Speaker 1: Anoop, have you or your team ever had to deal
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  Speaker 1: with anything like this before?
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  Speaker 2: World Vision is a global humanitarian agency. We have, yes,
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  Speaker 2: responded to every kind of disaster, especially we go with
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  Speaker 2: the large disaster in 2015, particularly in Nepal.
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  Speaker 3: We were one of the largest aid agencies in the country.
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  Speaker 2: So we did have this operation even in these districts
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  Speaker 2: where the flood has impacted. So again, coming back after
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  Speaker 2: 11 years to see another different nature. But again, this
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  Speaker 2: has impacted children especially very direly. And it's, again, heartbreaking
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  Speaker 2: to see how the child– can go further because our
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  Speaker 2: team met with two siblings, nine-year-old girl, the sister, elder sister,
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  Speaker 2: and three-year-old boy, younger brother. They don't have no one
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  Speaker 2: to take care of. And this is the situation, again,
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  Speaker 2: representing many children there.
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  Speaker 1: You know, the world's spotlight is on Nepal right now,
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  Speaker 1: on this crisis right now. But you know other things
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  Speaker 1: will happen. The global attention will move away. And I
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  Speaker 1: wonder from your perspective, what's your biggest concern, particularly since
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  Speaker 1: you're highlighting the plight of so many children? If you
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  Speaker 1: don't get the support you need, if the world doesn't
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  Speaker 1: pay attention, what's going to happen?
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  Speaker 2: Definitely, this is again is the first of all, thank
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  Speaker 2: you for this opportunity to come together and to, you know,
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  Speaker 2: explain about the situation here in the country. And the
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  Speaker 2: world actually is showing the solidarity and also the humanity
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  Speaker 2: that the world that is, you know, coming together.
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  Speaker 3: One, I think the important.
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  Speaker 2: Aspect of this, you know, repercussion or the impact is
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  Speaker 2: climate change impact, definitely the global warming. And this has
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  Speaker 2: got implication in terms of such kind of disasters, not
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  Speaker 2: only disasters, it.
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  Speaker 3: Has got explicit impact on livelihoods.
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  Speaker 2: And this population, especially the children, they are more susceptible
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  Speaker 2: to vulnerabilities in terms of nutrition, in terms of not
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  Speaker 2: getting proper education timely.
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  Speaker 3: And also there are protection issues.
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  Speaker 2: When I say protection issues, vulnerability to child marriage, because again,
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  Speaker 2: the adolescents and other like, you know, children, they would
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  Speaker 2: be again, have some implication in terms of those protection.
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  Speaker 2: And this kind of natural disaster, especially now, currently, this can, again,
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  Speaker 2: trigger more. And it is going to impact in the
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  Speaker 2: long run, like, you know, psychologically, like, you know, psychosocial
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  Speaker 2: aspect would be broken. So it is the time for
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  Speaker 2: us to respond to this as quick as possible to
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  Speaker 2: make this life beautiful and also to raise hope, especially
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  Speaker 2: in children those who have missed their loved and dear ones,
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  Speaker 2: and the population, those who have lost everything. They are
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  Speaker 2: to zero now. They don't have anything left. And this
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  Speaker 2: is where, you know, it's again is to bring that
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  Speaker 2: hope in the midst of hopelessness, in the midst of chaos,
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  Speaker 2: in the midst of ambiguity. And World Vision stands committed
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  Speaker 2: to have this force partnership with the government and the
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  Speaker 2: partners and also our global partnership that we have.
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  Speaker 1: Anup Rana in Kathmandu, thank you so much for your time, sir.
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  Speaker 1: We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors.
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  Speaker 1: Take care of yourself.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you very much once again for this opportunity and
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  Speaker 2: also to share about some of our field realities.
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  Speaker 1: Of course. Thank you.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.