As I write, many of my Oxfam colleagues in Kathmandu are preparing to bed down with the rest of the city’s inhabitants for their second night in the cold, under the stars. Terrifying aftershocks that continue to shake a structurally damaged city mean that it’s too risky to sleep with a solid roof over one’s head. We are trying to talk to our staff and friends but the phone and digital services are weak and in many cases broken.

Communications are so vital for workers to coordinate relief and aid, so the ability of medical and engineering staff to work easily is likely to be severely hampered.

But the airport was closed, roads and bridges damaged, and tons of rubble are blocking the streets and alleys of Kathmandu. From today people will start skipping meals and to rely on friends and relatives for support. Some will be moving to areas they consider more safe, where they will set up camps. Others will choose to stay close to their belongings and shattered homes, perhaps waiting for missing relatives. They will start selling assets in “distress sales”. They will use what food, cash, and property they have just to get by. They will start borrowing. Many poor Nepalese will already be in debt.

All these contingencies and actions are described in Oxfam’s program plans for exactly this kind of eventuality. Our country team has been preparing for them for years. Oxfam has invested a lot of time, effort and resources over the years in working with partner groups in Nepal on what we call “disaster risk reduction” programs. All of this work that we have done together will be severely tested over the coming days and weeks and months.

But in the first night since the earthquake struck, of course, all these same men and women, and their children too, have been sleeping out in the open. The challenge of mounting a coordinated aid effort led and directed by local officials and organizations will be huge.

Photo Credit: Dewald Brand, Miran for Oxfam