Fisher Foundation supports Fermanagh

Stephen Muldoon, Assistant Director of Livability International at the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre in Nepal

 

The Fisher Foundation has awarded special, one-off grants to Fermanagh based charities Livability International and Development Media Workshop. The emergency funding is being used for their humanitarian response following the two devastating earthquakes which hit Nepal.

Livability International the disability and development organisation has been working in Nepal since 2002 in partnership with the Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre. For the last twelve years DMW has had a similar capacity building relationship, supporting the development of trauma counselling in Nepal, helping facilitate the funding and connections for the organisation ‘Kopila Nepal’.

Ernie Fisher, Chairman of the Fisher Foundation said “The tragedy in Nepal and the devastating impacts have created substantial numbers of spinal injuries and exposed people to extreme trauma. Clearly Livability and DMW were ideally placed to provide responses to the crisis and we were very keen to support them.”

Stephen Muldoon, Assistant Director of Livability who is currently in Nepal said “Thanks to the Fisher Foundation for their ongoing support and outstanding generosity. It has been extremely busy here in Nepal...but lots of good things are happening. Our partner SIRC is holding up well and its staff are doing amazing work under the very challenging conditions. Over 100 people now have been admitted to the Centre with spinal injury following the earthquakes...and the numbers are set to increase further.”

Stephen arrived in Nepal the day before the second earthquake hit, “I travelled to SIRC from Kathmandu passing many damaged properties along the way. I was speaking with a doctor from the Centre when the second earthquake hit. The Centre shook for almost 25 seconds. It was terrifying, especially for the earthquake survivors and it was the noise and screams that were more frightening for me than the earth moving.”

Thankfully Stephen, and all staff and patients from the centre were shaken but relatively unaffected by this second quake. “The staff are coping extremely well. They are working hard and they are working smart. It has however been an exhausting time for the staff and they amaze me that each day they come in to work calmly and with a smile. The staff recently adopted a new slogan in support of those spinally injured in the earthquake: ‘if we don’t do it - who? If we don’t do it now – when? If we do it we will do it right’. With the help of the Fisher Foundation and other supporters we will continue to do all we can to help the most vulnerable people arriving daily at the Centre.”

Livability will continue to assist SIRC in its efforts to raise desperately needed funds to cover packages of care, rehabilitation and resettlement for the high numbers of new patients arriving daily at the Centre, many of whom have also lost family members, their homes and their means of income. They have huge challenges to overcome in the months and years ahead and for this reason your help is urgently needed. Please donate what you can today by calling 0207 452 2121 or alternatively CLICK HERE to visit donation page.

Ernie Fisher, Chairman of the Fisher Foundation with Maggie Muldoon and Glenda Milligan from Livability International