Piles of resources, laid out in the undercover lunch area, ready for the students to compile into care packages
11/09/2026
Recently, as most of you would already know, there were catastrophic floods in Nepal, north-west of Kathmandu, resulting in the loss of many lives, homes, and livelihoods.
KISC was not directly affected, but a couple of the international students were, and some of the Nepali staff and students have relatives who have died, are missing, or have lost everything.
KISC and its “big brother” EQUIP (which shares a site with KISC, but focuses on teacher training and equipping schools across Nepal) fall under the umbrella of the Nepali-led and based organisation HDCS (https://www.hdcsnepal.org/). HDCS has a number of projects across health, education, community development, and disaster response/relief/management. So a few days after the flood, HDCS brought resources for the secondary students to compile into care packages – things like soaps, toothbrushes, mosquito nets, and blankets. Some of the senior students and staff stayed back after school to help repack some of these, and move them to be picked up by HDCS trucks. Felix and Freya also helped with this, putting in a huge effort. They were very proud of themselves, and it was wonderful for them – and for the students – to feel like they were helping in a very real, practical way, in the face of so much devastation.
In the days after the flood, WhatsApp groups (which is what everyone uses here) were filled with messages expressing grief, suggesting organisations to donate to, and putting the call out for specific things, although this is slowing down now. An Aussie acquaintance who has been living in Nepal on and off for many years commented that the impact of this will be felt for a long time, in a myriad of big and small ways – in the cost and time to rebuild, in the social and economic effects for the influx of people who have lost their homes now moving to Kathmandu, where the cost of living is much higher than out in the countryside. In the gas (for cooking) shortages, since pipelines have been damaged by landslides.
And yet, life continues on.
Work, swimming carnival, investing in relationships. We had a long weekend, so on Monday Tim spent a few hours at the motor registry and got the scooter that he’d bought off prior to our arrival transferred into his name. It’s actually too small for him, so eventually he will probably get something bigger, and I will use the scooter. I started to try and learn how to drive it, and got told off by the compound’s guards. I think they were worried I might accidently crash into a wall or a small child or something. We met up with some fellow teachers and went for a short hike. And I had the happy realisation that I hadn’t heard a single reference to John Piper the whole time we’ve been here (other than on Christian Substack, which doesn’t count).
At a recent assembly, we sang Rend Collective’s “Build Your Kingdom Here”, an awesome song that I haven’t heard in quite some time. Over the last few weeks, it has popped into my head repeatedly. Build Your kingdom here/Let the darkness fear/Show Your mighty hand/Heal our streets and land/Set Your church on fire/Win this nation back/Change the atmosphere/Build Your kingdom here/We pray
Whether acknowledged or not, Kathmandu and Nepal belong to God, just like every other square inch of this world. May the old, old forces of darkness that hold so tightly to this little nation fear indeed. May the church, the workers in the field, and those of us in support behind-the-scenes roles, bring hope, bring light.
All for Him.
– Alex
The Newmarches in Nepal 