![]() ![]() The messages broadcast include what to do to stay safe during aftershocks and information on how to avoid sickness and disease by washing hands and filtering and boiling water. “When the earthquake happened, within four hours the BBC Nepali Service was sending out information, and many of the national Nepali radio stations were doing the same.” as a quake of this magnitude had been predicted,” said Dalton. ![]() ![]() We started training journalists in Nepal three years ago. “People are hungry for information and need to be able to have information which can help them. Jackie Dalton, a senior producer and trainer at BBC Media Action said the media is key for reaching out to survivors, but journalists are often too busy reporting on the problems such as the death toll and devastation, rather than the solutions. Without such information, say experts, people often panic and false rumours can take hold, exacerbating the emergency.īBC Media Action, for example, has been broadcasting disaster-related information through its Nepali Service and more than 260 local radio station partners. “We want to help provide people with alternative methods of communication to reach friends and family in the region during this difficult time,” said a statement from Skype.īut for others without phones or internet access more traditional forms of communication such as radio are a lifeline, providing them with information on how to protect themselves and where to go for assistance. Skype and Viber are also allowing users make free calls in and out of the country. While in the United States, network providers such as T-Mobile and Verizon have offered free calls and texts to Nepal. Telecoms firms in India such as Airtel, Aircel and Vodafone, have slashed call charges to Nepal. Network providers across the world are coming together to ease communications after the impoverished country’s worst earthquake in more than 80 years, offering free or discounted rates on calls to Nepal. She was our sustenance,” the picture caption quotes 72-year-old Sundaya Tamang of Phalame village in Khabre district as saying. “She (the cow) used to give my household 7 litres of milk. “People affected by disasters need information just like disaster responders do - because it is what they need to make good decisions, protect themselves and their family and source the assistance they need,” said Imogen Wall, an independent disaster expert specialising in communications.Īnd now as rescue teams, aid workers and journalists venture out of the capital to areas closer to the epicentre, they are sharing powerful images and stories of communities on the brink.įreelance photographer Prashanth Vishwanathan with ActionAid UK posted a picture on Facebook on Thursday of an elderly woman sitting amongst the debris of a cowshed, caressing the head of her dying cow as it lay buried under a mound of mud and straw. Survival in a crisis is often based on the person’s ability to connect and share information - to call for help and find comfort from others facing the same challenges, say experts in disaster communication.Īs relief materials such dry food rations, blankets and tarpaulin sheets flood into Nepal, disaster specialists stress that information as a form of aid must not be overlooked. Those in the remote mud-and-brick Himalayan villages remain stranded, possibly injured, amidst the ruins of their homes - awaiting rescue and relief. ![]() The 7.8 magnitude quake brought down thousands of buildings in the densely-populated Kathmandu Valley, which includes the capital, severely damaged telecommunications, tore apart roads and snapped bridges.Īs the death toll passes 6,000, many of the estimated eight million people affected are living out in the open - unable find out if their families in rural areas are alive or dead. NEW DELHI, May 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - There is probably no other place in the world right now where information - from the fate of your family members to where to get food and water - is more desperately needed than in the Nepal, devastated by a powerful earthquake six days ago. ![]()
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