Certificate: In recognition of their services following the April 25 earthquake in Nepal, members of the Nepal Earthquake Relief Medical Unit comprising medical, armed force personnel and DeSuups were awarded certificates of appreciation yesterday.

In a ceremony at the Royal Bhutan Army (RBA) headquarters in Lungtenphu yesterday, the Chief Operations Officer Lt General Batoo Tshering presented certificates of appreciation from His Majesty to the members of the team.

Lt General Batoo congratulated the team for having exceeded expectations in carrying out their service in aiding Nepal.

He said that the team embarked on their mission greatly motivated and inspired by the farsighted commands they received from His Majesty to render their services and aid to the people of Nepal. This spirit ensured that Bhutan’s mission was a remarkable success.

The Bhutanese team was deployed to Nepal on the command of His Majesty The King to extend medical aid to the survivors of the devastating earthquake.

The team was among the first such international groups to arrive in Nepal, when it arrived in Kathmandu a mere two days after the earthquake with a completely self- sufficient system, along with Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay who presented USD 1 million to the Prime Minister of Nepal as Bhutan’s contribution.

The team operated an outdoor hospital for over a month in Trishuli, Nuwakot district, where the heavily damaged district hospital was struggling to treat the hundreds of people brought in everyday from the area.

After the Bhutanese team set up, it treated over 2,000 patients, enabling patients to recover at the site instead of having to be referred to Kathmandu. The team also split into groups to travel to unreached villages on foot, to treat those patients who had not yet received access to medical services.