Nepal earthquake: Nepal needs the world’s help – this is what you can do

Shelter, food and water are the most urgent priorities

A Nepalese woman sits on a sofa outdoors surrounded by the debris of Saturday's earthquake (AP)

Nepal is my home. But on Saturday, that home became a nightmare for myself, my family and my team, as we lived through one of the worst earthquakes in living memory.

Thousands of people have been killed, an estimated 6.6m people across 40 per cent of the country have been affected, and buildings that have stood for centuries have been reduced to rubble. Terrifying tremors continue to rock Kathmandu and the surrounding areas, with an aftershock of 6.5 magnitude felt yesterday.

Mercy Corps and other agencies have been working tirelessly since the earthquake hit to provide assistance, but, it will be some time before we know the scale of disaster we are dealing with.

Right now, all open spaces in Kathmandu are packed with people who are camping outdoors. Survivors continue to flood in from outside the capital. Women and children are crying. People are desperately searching for missing relatives. Hospitals are running out of space and supplies. Extensive damage to infrastructure has meant there are major communications challenges and telephone connections come and go.

Major search and rescue operations are underway to help survivors and they are in desperate need of shelter, food and water. From our experience as a global agency that has responded to almost every major global disaster in the last 20 years, we know that these are the most urgent and immediate needs. From my team’s assessments, we have found that many shops in affected areas are closed and in some places prices for basic supplies, including water, are rising quickly. People are too scared to go back to their homes, or they have no homes to go back to.

Our own staff have not escaped unscathed, several report minor injuries and some have had their houses destroyed. But they have been out assessing needs, responding where they can, and preparing to scale up relief and enable recovery.

Family members break down during the cremation of an earthquake victim in Bhaktapur (AP)

Nepal is already one of the poorest countries in the world, 70 percent rely on agriculture to feed their families, 30 percent children under 5 suffer from malnutrition, less than 50 percent women are literate –this disaster will put the most vulnerable people at greater risk.

Mercy Corps has been working in Nepal since 2006 and with over 90 staff on the ground as well as extensive local networks, we will be working closely with our longtime partner, the Nepal Red Cross Society, and will be beginning urgent distributions of aid today.

Nepal and Britain have a long history, from Gurkhas who fought in the British Army, who have had their villages flattened by this earthquake, to the mountaineers and tourists who traverse our beautiful land in search of adventure and tranquillity. Right now, Nepal needs your help. We have yet to see the full extent of this disaster and what the humanitarian needs will be and we must be able to respond at speed and at scale to help people survive.

To help aid the relief effort you can donate to Mercy Corps here: https://www.mercycorps.org.uk/u/earthquake-survivors-need-you-now