We are glad to be covered in the newsletter of Geographical Institute in the project of CEDIM(Center For Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology) working with the team consisting of Prof Dr. Sebnem Duezguen , Dr Bijan Khajai and PhD candidate Trevor Girard where we presented research findings on eight of the most affected districts interviewing government officials, police, radio stations, journalists and local businesses.

1. Earthquake relief and support of research in disaster risk reduction.- During humanitarian crisis after the sequence of earthquakes in April 2015, AAROH mobilized earthquake management skills by supporting researchers of Germany in the “Earthquake Field Investigation Project” during the assessment camps of Bhaktapur Lalitpur, Kathmandu and outside of the valley. The research project was carried out under the supervision of Department of Geography’s of Heidelberg U niversity South Asia Institute, Germany, the Center of Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany; and the National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET)
2. “Profiling Local Resilience in Nepal: Access to Safe drinking Water as a critical resource for local dwellers in Earthquake Emergencies.” -AAROH also worked together as part of this project and in the research project of Svend Jonas Schelhorn to carry out a household survey for this project. The research project was carried out under the supervision of the Department of Geography of Heidelberg University’s South Asia Institute and was funded by the fiat panis foundation. Established in 1887, the South Asia Institute is a research institute aiming to provide research support to its members and visitors in Kathmandu, as well as at the Head Office in Heidelberg,Germany.
3. AAROH has also conducted a research project investigating needs of earthquake affected communities in Nepal in the field of Sindhupalchok, Dolakha ,Dhading ,Nuwakot and Rasuwa Nepal. (25th November 2015)The Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM) responded to the April 2015 Nepal Earthquakes with a team of researchers producing valuable reports within days and weeks of the disaster and executing two separate field investigations within months. In April of 2016, one year after the devastation, CEDIM again sent a small team of researchers to Nepal. The team, consisting of Prof. Dr. Sebnem Düzgün, Dr. Bijan Khazai, and PhD candidate Trevor Girard, presented the results of their research at the International Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Post Disaster Reconstruction Planning in Bhaktapur, Nepal. The team presented research findings on the assessment of critical infrastructure vulnerabilities using a conceptual framework for earthquake triggered landslides, emergent issues and vulnerability factors in temporary shelters, and the communication behavior of the earthquake affected communities and local government, respectively. The team also revisited eight of the most affected districts to conduct further interviews with government officials, police, radio stations, journalists, and local businesses. The team was again joined by Utsav Upreti and Shyam Thapa from AAROH, an experienced Nepali NGO, who conducted and translated the interviews and provided invaluable logistical support.
4. With affiliation to Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany in collaboration with the mining Engineering Department at Middle East Technical University, Turkey which is conducting scientific survey in Nepal-AAROH conducted survey with a team of enumerators on the subject Transportation(blocked roads due to lands (blocked roads) due to landslides in Nepal on September of 2016. The survey was conducted in the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur) and outside districts (Dhading, Dolakha, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, and Sindhupalchok).