Kathmandu : The Um Hong Gil Human Foundation (UHF), a leading South Korean international development NGO active in education and healthcare in Nepal, is expanding its relief programme for communities devastated by the August 26 floods. UHF Chairman Um Hong Gil will travel to Nepal on September 23 to personally lead relief operations in remote, hard-to-reach areas that have so far received little support.
The sudden floods caused mass casualties and left large numbers of people missing across Nepal, including nine South Korean workers. UHF actively supported search-and-rescue efforts in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and has since shifted to longer-term relief and recovery support for displaced families and affected institutions.
“Nepal is like a second home to me, a place that has given me countless challenges and dreams to fulfil. We must come together with warm hearts so that the Nepali people who suddenly lost their families and homes to this flood can return to normal life as soon as possible.”
— Um Hong Gil, Chairman, Um Hong Gil Human Foundation
Chairman Um previously mobilised $100,000 in emergency relief through the foundation following the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and personally visited affected areas as head of a Korean Red Cross emergency relief team delivering food and essential supplies. UHF has been running an emergency fundraising campaign since late August.
UHF’s Nepal office has worked with relevant authorities and local governments to assess damage and conduct field inspections, laying the groundwork for the relief effort. Headquarters transferred its first tranche of relief funds to Nepal on September 3, and on September 12 delivered emergency medicine, medical supplies and patient tents to the Uttar Gaya Health Post in the Rasuwa–Nuwakot flood zone.
A second and third tranche of funds will be released to coincide with Chairman Um’s visit. The foundation will focus on Rasuwa and Nuwakot’s isolated interior areas as well as Dhading and Gorkha — districts that suffered severe flood damage but have been cut off by road destruction, are far from Kathmandu, and have received little media coverage or humanitarian and medical support as a result.
Chairman Um had originally planned to visit Nepal in November with sponsors and volunteers to inspect school facility repairs, confirm completion of school buildings, review the start of new school construction, and take part in educational volunteer activities. Given the scale of the disaster, he decided he could not turn away from the flood victims and moved up his visit to September 23 to personally direct the relief effort.
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