Following a series of devastating earthquakes that have left thousands dead and thousands more injured in Nepal, ReliefWorks, the disaster relief operation of Pure Works Foundation, landed in Kathmandu today – and immediately got to work. The team of doctors, paramedics, EMTs, and other medical...

Following a series of devastating earthquakes that have left thousands dead and thousands more injured in Nepal, ReliefWorks, the disaster relief operation of Pure Works Foundation, landed in Kathmandu today – and immediately got to work.

The team of doctors, paramedics, EMTs, and other medical professionals joined the advance team that arrived earlier this week and will head to the Gorkha district northwest of Kathmandu Monday morning to begin treating victims of the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that hit the area on May 12. It was the second isolated quake to hit the country after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake rocked Nepal weeks earlier.

ReliefWorks team members
work with IsraAID to prepare
for the week’s medical clinics.

Equipped with medicine, medical supplies, patient-treatment tents, and support supplies, the team will partner with IsraAID, a relief organization from Israel, to provide medical care in the area.

In total, ReliefWorks will bring an estimated $250,000 in medicine and supplies to earthquake victims in desperate need of medical care.

The team expects to serve in the Gorkha district for two to three days before returning to Kathmandu and preparing for its next deployment.

En route to Kathmandu, Medical Director Leah Fletchall and Pure Works Vice President Jonathan Graves began serving earlier than expected after treating a woman with chest pains on the Etihad Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi.

The cliff-side road to Nuwakot, Nepal was long, winding and lined with rubble. Town after town, house after house, people picked through the devastation and attempted to pick up their lives. The ReliefWorks medical team, in coordination with partner organization IsraAID, arrived in the remote...

​The cliff-side road to Nuwakot, Nepal was long, winding and lined with rubble. Town after town, house after house, people picked through the devastation and attempted to pick up their lives.

The ReliefWorks medical team, in coordination with partner organization IsraAID, arrived in the remote village northwest of Kathmandu early Monday afternoon and immediately set up in a nearby school.

ReliefWorks Team Leader and Pure Works Vice President
Brandon Lindauer sets up an EKG in Nuwakot, Nepal.
The team treated approximately 200 patients with ailments ranging from earthquake-related injuries to respiratory issues over three days of comprehensive clinics. For many people, lingering problems stemming from the earthquake had begun to fester, and without immediate aid, could become life-threatening.

With limited to no resources, they are essentially trapped.

“This is a really hard-hit area,” said ReliefWorks Team Leader and Pure Works Vice President Brandon Lindauer. “A lot of homes are just completely crumbled. The area we are in is so remote and there is such poor access to healthcare up here. That access is completely gone right now because of all the infrastructure problems resulting from the earthquake.”

ReliefWorks Medical Director Leah Fletchall and team
member Daniel Keit assist with transportation of an elderly
woman with a broken femur in Nuwakot, Nepal.
On the team’s second day in Nuwakot, an elderly woman was carried in on a stretcher made of tarps and bamboo poles. During the first earthquake, her home collapsed and broke her femur. Two of her sons were killed, leaving just her and a daughter-in-law to fend for themselves.

She needed surgery in Kathmandu but had no means of getting to the hospital.

ReliefWorks and IsraAID coordinated desperately needed surgery for her and another 83-year-old woman with a broken hip. Both women were transported to Patan Hospital outside Kathmandu and underwent immediate surgery paid for by the Nepali government.

Between ReliefWorks and IsraAID, the team consists of two doctors, two paramedics, an EMT, a nurse midwife, and a former Army Special Forces medic. Additional medical professionals from both organizations arrive later this week. Three local nurses have also assisted with treatment and translation, as has Adventure Thirdpole Treks.

“[The Nepali] seem very interested and curious about our presence,” said ReliefWorks Medical Director Leah Fletchall. “Everyone is very kind and seems very gracious that we are here and helping them.”

Pure Works Vice President Jonathan Graves evaluates a
young patient in Nuwakot, Nepal.
Patients ranged from a three-day-old newborn to elderly men and women seeking emergency care and general treatment. Elizabeth Keit, a nurse midwife (OB-GYN) from California, noted the number of women coming in for regular check-ups.

“It has been a long time since they had any normal primary care, and for women, a lot of that focuses around their reproductive lives,” Keit said. “Having a woman to talk those things over with seems helpful. Even if they are going through normal life-stage changes, they like to have the reassurance of knowing if what they have going on is normal.”

Other conditions included gastrointestinal issues, scabies, open wounds, infections, aches and pains, psycho-social issues, and fungal infections.

“It is a privilege to travel half way around the world after such a horrendous disaster to compassionately provide medical care for those who so desperately need it,” said Pure Works Vice President Jonathan Graves.

On Wednesday, ReliefWorks returned to Kathmandu to restock and repack medical supplies before heading out on its next deployment.

Local residents await treatment during the three-day clinic in Nuwakot, Nepal.

​Parisha helped the team during patient intake, escort people to and from triage, and even with some treatments, when appropriate. On the final day of clinics, ReliefWorks team member John Everlove, a paramedic from Ventura, Calif., presented Parisha with her very own stethoscope - the one Everlove...

​Parisha helped the team during patient intake, escort people to and from triage, and even with some treatments, when appropriate.
On the final day of clinics, ReliefWorks team member John Everlove, a paramedic from Ventura, Calif., presented Parisha with her very own stethoscope – the one Everlove brought from home.

Parisha began to cry.

It wasn’t long before the team and members of partner organization IsraAID did as well.

“At the end, we became so connected to her and she became such a friend to us. She was there every day that we were there, and we decided we wanted to give her something special to encourage her on her journey to becoming a doctor. So we presented her as a team with a stethoscope,” Everlove said. “She had the look on her face much like a child does at Christmas getting the perfect gift. She took a deep breath and she didn’t let it out. She became weak in the knees and could hardly stand up. We gave her hugs and thanked her for what she had done.

“By the end, she was crying and we were crying and holding her,” he continued. “We realized that not only were we able to provide care because of her, but we were also able to touch the community in a way that we would have otherwise not been able to imagine because of her participation.”

The team and guide Anuj Mahat of Adventure Thirdpole Treks will also pursue scholarship opportunities for the young girl, who helped ReliefWorks treat the many earthquake-related injuries in Ganeshthan. Other ailments included respiratory issues and cardiac problems.

The team helped transport two elderly women to Kathmandu for intensive treatment – one with a dislocated hip and another with broken ribs which had contributed to her contracting pneumonia.

“We were surprised to learn that many people in these remote areas haven’t received any aid, and weren’t even aware that aid was being distributed,” said Pure Works Vice President and Team Leader Brandon Lindauer. “We’re hearing a lot of stories about how people were injured in the second earthquake, feeling the shaking and jumping out second-story windows to avoid having a house collapse on them. We’re still seeing a lot of broken bones and soft-tissue injuries, some of which will need surgical intervention in the city, which we’ve been able to help arrange as well as provide the necessary transportation.”

The team will spend two days in Phalante for its final deployment in Nepal before beginning its journey back to the United States on Sunday, May 31.

Nepal Collaboration Jordan International Aid (JIA) is currently in Nepal. Pure Works is grateful we were able to collaborate in their mission by helping them procure a portion of their medicine. This is of course crucial to any medical mission, and we want to share with you just how far your...

Nepal Collaboration
Jordan International Aid (JIA) is currently in Nepal. Pure Works is grateful we were able to collaborate in their mission by helping them procure a portion of their medicine. This is of course crucial to any medical mission, and we want to share with you just how far your dollars go.

On this particular medicine procurement (see docs attached), $1,200 was spent for the medicine, and $708.80 for its delivery to Team Leader, Dr. Choi in California. From there, the medicines were divided up and taken by the Jordan International Aid Team Members to Nepal.

Three (3) “MAP packs” were purchased by JIA for the mission. The total wholesale value of the medicine is $95,650.50. By dividing this amount by the procurement cost ($1,908.80), the value received for each donors dollar is $50.11.

This 50 to 1 ratio is made possible by collaboration. It makes our efforts produce a much greater impact, like planting seeds into fields that will produce 100-fold versus planting seeds into fields that will reap 20-fold.

For this mission, let’s thank MAP International, Jordan International Aid and their team members for the joy of their significant sacrifice and contribution to help earthquake victims in Nepal. Let’s pray for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be anointed on Enoch Choi as he shares in various places! Let’s be grateful we are able to be a small part of what they do. And, thank you for your ongoing support of prayers and funds. Together, we get a lot done!
Please pray for the current team in Nepal 8/2-8/17. They are:

Dr. Jeff Croke
Bob White – Physical Therapist
Tania Choi
Dr. Susanne Martin
Aracely Lieras, RN
Melinda Porter, MD
Eric Khau, Medical Student
Dr. Enoch Choi – (Team Leader)