Update from Anandaban

Your support has brought vital hope since the devastating landslide in September

Thanks to your quick response hope has not been extinguished

Early in the morning of 29th September messages were being sent right across the Global Fellowship of The Leprosy Mission. It wasn’t clear at first just how devastating the floods and landslides were but in the days that followed we heard heartbreaking testimony from staff and friends in Nepal. The landslide happened in the middle of the night in Nepal. Many staff were sleeping in their quarters and sadly one staff member died having perished in the landslide.
Anandaban hospital is like a beacon of hope, standing high on a hillside countless people have found healing
there over the years. But this hillside, like many in Nepal, are vulnerable to erosion. Unseasonal rains triggered
huge landslides across the Hospital campus.

A Torrent of Water, Mud and TreesThere were two significant landslides that happened that night, the main one pictured brought tonnes of water, mud and trees down the mountain straight to the training centre (red bricked building). A video hosted on our
website shows more detail, but this is a four-storey building, of which the majority was buried.As well as damage to buildings, infrastructure was very badly affected. Roads were blocked, the water supply was cut and the hospital was without electricity too.
With hundreds of patients in the main hospital buildings decisions had to be made to evacuate the patients (many of whom have disabilities) to safer buildings.Hope Rising from The AshesThe team in Nepal have shown incredible courage and determination to continue this vital work to help and heal people affected by leprosy. Mr Shovakhar Kandel and Mr Ashok Adhikari (TLM Nepal Board Chairperson) and the
whole team were so encouraged by messages of support and prayers from across the world. Very quickly they created a strategy to assess the damage, clear the roads, make a new temporary water supply and emergency electricity supply.Rebuilding will not be straightforward. Engineers and flood defence management experts are coming to the hospital campus to make sure that the site is safe and that any rebuilding that happens will be fit for the future. It’s
a complicated picture but we are hopeful that the best choices will be made and that the team in Nepal are best placed to make decisions for their future, supported by TLM countries across the world.

Your Response Has Brought Hope where the threat of destruction was real

When we called on supporters to respond to this emergency we didn’t know what would happen. We made a commitment to support Nepal but didn’t know the scope of what would be needed. We in Northern Ireland and our brothers and sisters in TLM Nepal are deeply grateful for your remarkable generosity to this heart-breaking tragedy. You have inspired us all and given such strength and hope to the team in Nepal.
One special word of thank you comes from Mr Shovakhar Kandel (TLM Nepal Country Leader). “Thank you so much Northern Ireland for your incredible generosity. You have brought encouragement to us here in Nepal, you have brought hope to us. Together with your support we can stand up again, we can restore this place again, and we can continue to serve those affected by leprosy.”

Although clearance and repair work has begun, please continue to pray for wisdom for the leadership team in Nepal. Anandaban Hospital is open again, but many services are operating under reduced capacity. It is a long road to recovery.

Click Here for our Anandaban landslide update page