UN World Food Programme Airlifts Child Monks in Nepal (For the Media)

At the request of Nepalese authorities, the World Food Programme has transported 60 children and their caretakers from a monastic school (known as a gompa) in Lho, Gorkha that was cut off from the world by the April and May earthquakes. Lho is a small Himalayas village near the border with Tibet. The monastery, dormitories and kitchen were badly damaged by the 25 April earthquake and the 12 May quake destroyed the telecommunications tower and caused landslides that made the trail to the village impassable. A WFP MI8 helicopter was used to evacuate the children, and on each rotation it carried in shelter materials so those remaining at the monastery could make repairs. The helicopter is part of the common logistics services that WFP provides to the wider humanitarian community responding to the earthquake disaster. Text transcript of this video