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The day after Nepal was hit by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Saturday 25 April, Wesley Pryor, Handicap International’s rehabilitation adviser, travelled to assess the situation in Gorkha, an isolated region very close to the epicentre. He travelled in conjunction with International Medical Corps.

London, 27th April 2015. Up to 3,600 people have been killed and more than 6,500 injured in Nepal, according to figures released by the United Nations . Several regions have been cut off and the number of victims continues to rise. Handicap International expects to see significant numbers of spinal cord injuries and multiple fractures among the injured people arriving at hospitals. It is paramount that the wounded are taken care of immediately to reduce the risk of long-term disabilities. 

Handicap International’s teams, already present and active on the ground in response to the disaster, will be joined from Monday by several emergency specialists, to evaluate and meet the immediate needs. The first aid distributions were already made on Saturday by the organisation, which is also providing care to injured people.

On Saturday morning, 25th April, a powerful earthquake struck Nepal. So far the disaster has killed more than 1,000 people. Nepal has declared a state of emergency, and Handicap International teams are already on the ground, delivering direct aid and evaluating the need for a large-scale emergency intervention.

London, 25th April 2015 . Handicap International has launched an emergency response following the violent earthquake that hit Nepal on earlier today. At least 970 people are reported dead, but that provisional toll is expected to rise given the widespread scale of destruction. Active in Nepal since 2000, Handicap International has already provided emergency wheelchairs to several hospitals. The organisation is calling for donations to help injured and vulnerable people.

Sumaira, 8 years old, was born with the congenital development disorder Spina Bifida . Despite her parents' best efforts to provide her with care, Sumaira is unable to stand up and walk unaided. Before she started receiving care from Handicap International, she was fully dependent on her parents for all her day-to-day needs.

Despite the hopes raised by a sharp drop in the number of contaminations in January, the Ebola virus epidemic is not over yet. Bruno Leclercq, Handicap International’s Field Programme Director in Sierra Leone and Liberia, talked to us about the problems still facing the region and the exceptional commitment shown by the people of Sierra Leone.

Seng Ly, 52, lost the use of her legs in 1989 after she was hit by an anti-tank mine. At the time, she was living in a camp for Cambodian refugees in Thailand. More than twenty years on, Handicap International is still at her side. 

After recently returning from Sierra Leone, where she coordinated Handicap International’s emergency operations, Nathalie Derrien talks to us about her experiences and the situation in the country worst affected by the epidemic.

In the wake of the conflict in Iraq, more than 2 million Iraqis have left their homes and everything they own behind them. A large proportion has suffered physical and psychological violence. Over 900,000 of them have been displaced to Iraqi Kurdistan, notably in the governorates of Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah. Olivia Nevissas is one of the staff members deployed by Handicap International to help the families made most vulnerable by the crisis.

Five years ago a serious fall changed Arumugam Pakkiyam’s life forever. Arumugam, now 60, was left paralysed.

Roqaya, 14, was very seriously wounded by a shelling in Syria. Both of her legs had to be amputated at the knee. She didn’t know if she’d ever be able to walk again. But, less than a year later, she’s walking independently again thanks to the donations of our supporters and UK Aid.

London, 12 March 2015. Four years since the Syrian conflict began, the toll continues to rise. More than 190,000 people have died and one million have been injured. Tens of thousands of people urgently require orthopaedic fitting and rehabilitation. An entire generation of injured and disabled people need immediate and long-term care.