After the terrible news of two devastating earthquakes striking Nepal, the K International team are pulling together to raise funds for the relief effort. One of our lead project managers, Sajeda Al-Nashash, has been instrumental in organising a week long food fair. Members of the team have been supplying a different set of culinary creations each day to collect for the appeal. Thanks to the folks here at K, we’ve had a great variety of gourmet morsels including smoothies, samosas, exotic salads, omelettes, quiche, cake, cookies and brownies to name only a few.
Big thanks to Sajeda, Karolina, Sherrien, Magda, Sheree, Rosina, Rita, Rachel & Surinder for providing all the goodies!
Our Retail Account Director, Agnieszka Animucka, set up a fantastic ‘Golden Auction’ with a number of mystery prizes. With assistance from a skilled auctioneer (Surinder Singh, our New Business Manager), she raised more than £130 thanks in no small part to the K team’s new found love of clogs (take a look at the photos).
And then there’s Chas, our resident software development guru. He’s taking part in a triathlon at the weekend (good luck!) and had the idea that if he could raise £50 he would work the entire afternoon in his new wetsuit. Naturally he had £80 in under 3 minutes and dutifully donned the necessary attire, he may have regretted the good weather we’ve had recently in Milton Keynes though, #Sweaty.
Here’s a few photos from the week so far…
[av_gallery ids=’18124,18123,18122,18121,18120,18119,18110,18109,18108,18107,18106,18105,18104,18103,18102,18101,18100,18099,18098,18097,18096′ style=’thumbnails’ preview_size=’portfolio’ crop_big_preview_thumbnail=’avia-gallery-big-crop-thumb’ thumb_size=’portfolio’ columns=’5′ imagelink=’lightbox’ lazyload=’deactivate_avia_lazyload’ av_uid=’av-pgcn47′]
We have placed a number of links to charities below that are helping the people of Nepal so you can join us in support, if you know any others, please place a link in the comments section and we’ll publish those too!
How you can help support the relief effort
ActionAid
The agency has reached more than 48,500 people so far with emergency aid including food, medicine, tarpaulins and hygiene kits. ActionAid aims to scale up its outreach over the coming months, including plans to build “safe spaces” for women and children who can be particularly vulnerable after natural disasters.
British Red Cross
As well as providing much-needed supplies including food and emergency shelter, Red Cross volunteers are searching for survivors through the rubble of collapsed buildings. The organisation also has a recently built blood bank in Kathmandu, providing blood to help injured survivors.
How to donate
Care
Care aims to assist 100,000 people with temporary shelter, ready-to-eat meals, water purification and toilet construction. “All of the particularly vulnerable – children, breastfeeding mothers, people with chronic diseases – they have been suffering a lot. It’s essential to get help to these people as quickly as we can,” says Santosh Sharma, Care’s emergency response coordinator in Kathmandu.
How to donate: UK, International
International Medical Corps
International Medical Corps workers are providing emergency care to survivors, as well as delivering much-needed medical supplies. The organisation has opened a mobile medical unit in Ghorka, near the earthquake epicentre, with plans to expand to other affected areas.
Oxfam
Oxfam is providing basic essentials to survivors and will build sanitation facilities in temporary camps in partnership with Unicef. “Our priority is to ensure that people affected have adequate humanitarian assistance and we are able to prevent secondary disasters, including outbreak of disease, by providing safe water and critical sanitation support,” says Zubin Zaman, deputy director of Oxfam India.
How to donate: UK, International
Plan
The charity says it is stepping up efforts to support 7,000 families with shelter kits including tarpaulins, mattresses, mosquito nets and blankets. Plan’s UK chief executive, Tanya Barron, says some rural communities outside the epicentre have had consecutive nights without shelter. “These remote communities are what are causing us most concern,” she says. “It’s clear when you move around that people are struggling to improvise shelters, and with more rain expected this is something we need to urgently address.”
How to donate: UK, International
Save the Children
The charity aims to raise $50m to assist with aid efforts in Nepal. Workers have begun delivering tarpaulins to survivors in Kathmandu and baby packs in the Bhaktapur district, which include children’s clothes, blankets and soap. More assistance is on its way to the hardest-hit regions outside Kathmandu Valley, including Gorkha and Sindhupalchowk.
How to donate: UK, International
Tearfund
Tearfund staff and partners remain in Nepal with a focus on shelter, food and sanitation. Teams have been trekking over landslides and mountains to reach remote communities impacted by the quake.
Unicef
The agency says it is focusing on water and sanitation, nutrition, education and child protection. Unicef has already delivered oral rehydration salts and zinc supplements to people gathered in informal settlements, and is providing tents for field medical facilities. Two cargo flights with a combined 120 tonnes of humanitarian supplies are also on their way.
How to donate: UK, International
WaterAid
WaterAid is working with its local partners to provide emergency water supplies, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and emergency trenches for sanitation. “Our immediate priority is to work with our partners to assess what is most needed in the communities where we work, and how we can help prevent outbreaks of waterborne diseases including typhoid and cholera,” said Girish Menon, WaterAid’s deputy chief executive.
How to donate: UK, International
We Help Nepal
World Food Programme
WFP is delivering food and emergency supplies to affected areas. It is also providing logistical support for other aid agencies via a relief hub at Kathmandu’s international airport, including electricity communications facilities, storage space and office buildings.
World Vision
World Vision is planning to respond in its initial phase to 50,000 people, meeting basic needs by providing first aid kits, sleeping mats, blankets and jerry cans, and temporary shelter. The agency will also set up three child-friendly spaces so children have a safe place to play and recover from trauma.
How to donate: UK, International