A 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25, 2015, at 11:56 a.m., sending shock waves beneath the Kathmandu Valley. Some 9,000 lives were lost and over 2.5 million more were in need of humanitarian assistance before the aftershocks subsided. Volunteer Ministers were the first responders in some of the hardest-hit areas and quickly mobilized to distribute food and water in the refugee camps surrounding the city of Kathmandu. The VM relief teams included doctors, nurses and paramedics from Pakistan, India and Thailand; handpicked teams from Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Australia and across Europe. The VM relief statistics tell the story: 130 persons rescued from collapsed buildings, more than 300 schools, shelters and homes rebuilt. When aftershocks continued wreaking damage, more specialized construction VM teams were brought to Nepal to assist in the rebuilding of schools and other vital infrastructure.
