A strong relationship with Nepal built over quarter of a century demands an urgent response in time of crisis

In her monthly blog, EMMS CEO Cathy Ratcliff reflects on a longstanding relationship with Nepal and the urgency to act during this time of unimaginable devastation.

EMMS partners in Nepal are delivering care for people impacted by the floods

It’s top of our minds in EMMS. Working with our partners, who are putting aside their shock to mount emergency relief, playing their part in the first days after the flash floods to help survivors displaced from their homes and missing family members.

Donate to the Nepal Emergency Appeal

It’s top of our minds in the UK. Nepal with its Treaty of Friendship with the UK, dating to 1923. Nepal with its holidays of a lifetime for UK travellers enjoying unique mountain scenery, wildlife, history and culture – and always, always the friendliness and resourcefulness of the Nepali people.

I first went to Nepal in 1987, walking over the border from Tibet with my husband-to-be, entranced by the Sherpas waiting to carry our rucksacks down the mountain to a bus, which we let them do, to give them a fee. That was north of Kathmandu, so maybe it was the crossing point at Gyirong Port that we’ve all seen in the news footage where the huge border building is engulfed by a massive wave of mud and debris.

From 2016 to 2025, I’ve visited Nepal 12 times for EMMS, and three of those times have trekked in the mountains, west of and east of Rasuwa District, so badly affected now. Trekking in the Everest area, I wondered at the queues of tourists. In Annapurna, I was reduced by the altitude to shuffling. Trekking in Upper Mustang, I revelled in Tibetan culture – clothes, cuisine, language, history, and above all friendliness and hospitality.

At the recent funeral of EMMS’s former CEO Robin Arnott, I heard how he started the EMMS Nepal programme in about 2000, travelling with his wife Nan to many of the places that we EMMS people go to now, starting relationships that are still going strong today. We in EMMS today are grateful for Robin’s and Nan’s initiative and energy.

EMMS’s work in Nepal has been mainly in the areas of the hills and plains, with some forays into more sparsely populated mountain areas. Since Robin’s time, we’ve developed maternal and child healthcare, healthcare trainees and palliative care, built a palliative care unit, and responded to earthquakes and floods, including the huge 2015 earthquake. Robin set all that in motion.

Because of climate change, we in EMMS find ourselves responding to more emergencies than ever. August’s flash floods of rivers, mud and debris bringing death and destruction are surely caused by climate change.

Because of climate change, we minimise our flights, with one or two staff going to Nepal once a year or less. That’s enough to develop friendships and trust and respect between EMMS staff and our partners’ staff. In recent years, I’ve travelled to Nepal with our Director of Programmes Sarah, our Director of Finance Chris, journalist and photographer David Pratt, and film-maker Robbie Fraser. The stunning photography and video footage generated from that visit showcase the powerful work to deliver palliative care that EMMS has supported.

Aid work is about country-to-country relationships, and individual relationships across nations. Anyone who visits Nepal is struck by its friendly people, keen to help and easy to get on with. The UK-Nepal Treaty of Friendship is not just an agreement on paper, but a set of many real, person-to-person, institution-to-institution relationships of trust and respect. EMMS aims to help our supporters connect to those we work with overseas, to take your messages of solidarity to them, and help you to help them. The current disaster is beyond imagination. Thank you for trusting EMMS to carry your support for Nepal to where it is needed most, where our partners are helping their bewildered and grieving compatriots with comfort, food, essential items and healthcare. We can do more, of course, with more money.

Donate to the Nepal Emergency Appeal

This is another sad time for Nepal. I thank you for your support of Nepali people.

Cathy