Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Getting help to Nepal’s flood survivors is proving difficult Blocked roads and monsoon weather are complicating efforts to get food, shelter and emergency hygeine to survivors of Nepal's catastrophic floods. World Vision's Dhruba Gurmachhan explains what survivors need the most. World Getting help to Nepal's flood survivors is proving difficult August 29, 20265:14 PM ET Heard on All Things Considered By Joel Rose , Henry Larson , Janaya Williams Getting help to Nepal’s flood survivors is proving difficult Listen · 3:07 3:07 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5948125/nx-s1-9906471" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Blocked roads and monsoon weather are complicating efforts to get food, shelter and emergency hygeine to survivors of Nepal's catastrophic floods. World Vision's Dhruba Gurmachhan explains what survivors need the most. Sponsor Message Transcript
JOEL ROSE, HOST:
We're going to stay now with the human impact of the floods in Nepal. World Vision International is a Christian relief group, one of many organizations working in the region to provide emergency lifesaving services after the flood. We've called Dhruba Gurmachhan, the programme readiness manager for World Vision in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, to find out how their field operations are going. Welcome to the program.
DHRUBA GURMACHHAN: Thank you, Joel.
ROSE: We've seen some powerful images over the past few days of the destruction. You've been to some of these affected areas yourself. Tell us, what did you see there?
GURMACHHAN: What I can see is only flood, sands, muds mixed with all those kind of debris. And I was very terrified looking at the ground. So it is very difficult to explain you at the moment because stink very bad there. It is very bad, and...
ROSE: The stink - you mean the smell?
GURMACHHAN: Yes, smell.
ROSE: Yeah.
GURMACHHAN: People died there, and we don't know how many are under those. We don't know. There were people standing beside the river looking at their house which was swept away. And I can see tear in their face, tear in their eyes, and the eyes were - eyes was red. And I've also met one girl. She's about 7 or 8 years old, wearing dark blue T-shirt. She has lost her entire family, and she was only the person survived there. She can't speak anything, traumatized totally. I can't explain - even though I was not so much affected by those kind of things, seeing those kind of things, psychologically, I was traumatized.
ROSE: Yeah, it sounds absolutely heartbreaking.
GURMACHHAN: Yes.
ROSE: Is there a - one moment that's really going to stay with you?
GURMACHHAN: The face of that child - I can't forget in my entire life. Last night, I took an interview with one of the TV program, and I tried to sleep. But the image that I saw - I remember whole night. Early in the morning, I tried to clear those kind of things with prayer and meditation. But still, I remember those kind of things.
ROSE: What is the biggest challenge to providing services right now?
GURMACHHAN: Today, we have sent two trucks of food to the next side of the river. But other side of the river, it was totally unreachable. Probably tomorrow, we are thinking to hire some helicopter, if government allows us to do that. So we'll be providing some of the food items there if the coordination and everything goes well.
ROSE: I've been speaking with Dhruba Gurmachhan. He is a programme readiness manager in Kathmandu for World Vision International. Thank you for your work, and thank you for joining us today.
GURMACHHAN: Thank you, Joel, for having me here. Thank you. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. NPR does not offer or accept money for coverage or interviews. Anyone who makes such an offer or request is not an NPR employee and does not represent NPR. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{310:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(80)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(769),o(155),o(176),o(93),o(447),o(254),o(128),o(130),o(754),o(175),o(755),o(255),o(78),o(773)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},782:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(310)}},[[782,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();