“…Because we lost our home and a loved one, I am in a better position to understand the necessity to assist those who also suffered due to the earthquake.” Santosh, Nepal Red Cross volunteer

Following the earthquake that hit Nepal recently, the headquarters of the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) has been a beehive of activities. Many volunteers throng the premises daily, lifting relief goods from trucks freshly arriving from the airport into the warehouse. They undertake other assignments that may be allotted to them, while the more experienced ones move to the field to either carry out assessments of humanitarian needs, assist those affected by the disaster, or relieve other colleagues who may have been in the field for too long so they could take some rest.

The volunteers are the strength of any national Red Cross or Red Crescent Society, as they come from every corner of the country, understand the terrain and speak the local languages. Due to the fact that they are volunteering and desire no material gain, their support and service significantly cuts down the cost of delivering humanitarian assistance.

Nepal Red Cross Society volunteers offloading relief items. ©ICRC, Adebayo Olowo-Ake

Nepal Red Cross Society volunteers offloading relief items. ©ICRC, Adebayo Olowo-Ake

Santosh Mishra is one of such volunteers. He is 30 years old and quite experienced, as he has been with the NRCS for a while. According to him, “I was in Kathmandu when the earthquake struck. My family was affected and we lost a close relative in the disaster.” It occurred to Santosh that his relatives in the village may also have been hit, so once his family in the capital were adjudged safe, he immediately left for his ancestral home in Nuwakot.

“When I got there, all the houses had been destroyed by the impact of the quake, including ours.” Becoming pensive now and momentarily introspective, he contemplates his next sentence for a while. “I have never seen this type of disaster before in my entire 30 years on earth! I never imagined that something on this scale could ever happen. It affected people, structures and animals, nothing was spared!

Santosh seemingly brightened a little, despite being under the weight of the loss he had suffered. “If this had not been a Saturday, I wonder what toll this disaster would have taken on human life. Many people had gone out of their homes and this could have been the single most important factor that helped to minimize the number of the dead.”

How was he able to regain his composure so quickly and join his colleagues to respond to the humanitarian needs engendered by disaster? “Despite everything I suffered, I feel happy that I’m able to help, regardless of the risk. Because we lost our home and a loved one, I am in a better position to understand the necessity to assist those who also suffered due to the earthquake.”

Santosh is among the hundreds of volunteers of the NRCS who continue to work in the most affected of Nepal’s 75 districts to relieve the loss suffered by many in the wake of the earthquake. They provide temporary shelter (tarpaulins), food, medicines, water and psychosocial services to those affected with support from the International Federation of Red Cross Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

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