Humanitarian aid and disaster relief is reaching Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital city, and many Americans and people from around the world are responding by asking how they can help residents following a massive earthquake.
On Thursday, five days after the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal, a 15-year old young boy was pulled from rubble amid cheers , as he was carried away on a stretcher after being buried under a seven story building.
Laurence Simon, a Brandeis University Professor of International Development and Director of the Center for Global Development and Sustainability at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, tells Morning Edition host Bob Seay , “the international community has learned important lessons about how to conduct relief and often teaches others around the world about how they can assist these nations in recovery efforts.”
Simon has worked in relief programs for many decades, including the war in Bosnia, relief efforts in Guatemala back in the late 1970s, and more recently in Sri Lanka during the tsunami in December 2004.
He says “whether it’s a tsunami or an earthquake, one of the first things we see in a disaster is the emergency period lasts only a couple of weeks and after which, the organizations who never had a presence in the country, pack up an leave .”
He says once needs are assessed many disaster areas learn reconstruction often takes months and years to happen. Professor Simon offers the following advise on what's the best way to donate and find reputable charities assisting with aid:
How can a person make sure their donation goes to where they intend to send it and for the purpose in which they intended?
What’s the best way to find and donate to a reputable charitable organization?
Professor Simon says the United Nations announced a fund has been established to help raise money for re-construction in Nepal.
To listen to more of Professor Simon's interview with WGBH's Bob Seay click on the link below:
