Sent from friends on the ground now, meeting with community based organizations working to meet the many needs….

“All teams we met with so far are focused on four key things in order of priority:
1. meds
2. farming
3. education
4. rebuilding

Meds are a priority for some CBOs still making weekly medical visits to villages.   Team of 4 doctors spend about $200-$250 worth of meds every week treating 300 patients every Sat/Sun weekly. XXX and villages around there are not getting any help from anyone that we are trying to identify CBOs that are willing to go there to provide assistance to them. 

For farming, timing is everything.  KBC is focused on getting tractors to farmers on time so that they can plow in time. There are two more weeks of plowing and seeding time before the season is over. They need 13-15 big tractors @ $1600 a piece ASAP.  They took a huge loan out and bought a bunch of small 1-wheel tractors and got them distributed already. They will also need about 5000 fertilizer bags for 231 villages at $9 a piece. Maybe start a “adopt a village campaign”?.  

Education is another area.  Most schools are reopened, and the kids in those villages need $ for cash to buy uniform and text books.  Estimated needs are $30 per year for elementary school students, $50 per year for middle school students and $80 per year for high school students. Total # of students needing to assistance go to school is 1121 elementary, 533 middle school, 206 high school kids over 240+ villages that our contacts are working in.

Building is still in progress, and there are many villages that is yet to rebuild properly. Rebuilding a hut will cost $90-300 depending on location, family size and materials. 

More news to follow…..