How it began…
April 2015.
The earth roared, the mountain fell, and the village was gone. Not damaged, not devastated, totally gone. Disappeared – as though it had never been, and with it the lives of most of those who lived there. Men and women, children and grandchildren, their cows; and goats; and their donkeys. All gone! And not just one village, many. And not a few lives lost, but over eight thousand, with tens of thousands injured and over two million people left homeless – most of whom remain at risk today. A scene repeated across Nepal.
December 2015.
On December 1, 2015, Ambassador Scott DeLisi, on his first day of retirement from the State Department, took over the reins of Engage Nepal. Although our initial focus was on disaster risk reduction and preparedness (and we still care about this today), we knew that it was too much to ask families to worry about the next disaster when they were struggling to put a meal on the table, to pay school fees for their children and to ensure that they had access to live-saving health care when needed.
Since then…
For the past ten years we have dedicated ourselves to offering some of those in the greatest need in Nepal a helping hand extended in partnership.. We offer children the promise that education brings and provide shelter, food and care to those who need our help. We provide training and opportunities for new livelihoods to women (and men) who are desperate to care for their families and we strive to help provide access to both preventative and urgent medical care as needed.
Today
Over the past ten years we have worked with our partners in Nepal on close to 100 projects in support of people who needed a helping hand. Our commitment is to the children at risk, the women who have been marginalized, and to communities living on the edge of despair as climate change threatens their way of life.
And when disaster strikes, we are there too. We have responded to earthquakes and floods and fire and, in the darkest days of the COVID pandemic, we were there to save lives and to remind those who felt abandoned that there were those who care.
Today, our mission continues. Whether responding in emergencies or helping people find their way in a changing world we do what we have always done. We Engage Nepal.
Engage Nepal believes that those who are most disadvantaged in need in Nepal need not just a champion, but a partner and together we will build a future that our partners in Nepal can face hope rather than despair.