Mercy Corps is the only global humanitarian organisation to have its European Headquarters in Edinburgh.

Over one week ago, an earthquake the magnitude of 7.8 hit the country of Nepal. It was shallow quake, just below the surface of the earth. What this means is that it is just this type of earthquake that can cause the most damage. And it has devastated the country of Nepal, more than 6.6 million people in 40 per cent of the country have been affected.

As news spread out about the impact of the earthquake, it quickly became clear that this was to be the worst disaster to befall Nepal in over 80 years. Thousands killed and injured, hundreds of thousands of families with their homes devastated and ancient buildings destroyed. In a country of 28 million people, it has had a very significant impact, especially given the vulnerability of the Nepalese before the disaster. One third of people in Nepal live on less than £1 a day and half of the country's population is made up of youth, 90 per cent of which are unemployed.

Mercy Corps has been working in Nepal for nearly a decade. Our work has focussed on helping small farmers to build up their agriculture and food production, working on economic opportunities and livelihoods, the inclusion of women and girls in society, and disaster preparedness.

We have more than 90 staff in the country, and with the exception of four staff, all are from Nepal, including our Country Director Sanjay Karki. What this means is that, especially in situations like the current emergency, our team knows the conditions, context and needs very well and we are able to build on our relationships with the Government of Nepal and local partners, including the Nepal Red Cross Society, to respond urgently.

When the earthquake hit on Saturday 25 April, our disaster response plan kicked in. Like many, we knew that an earthquake was expected at some point - the country lies on the same fault line as Delhi and is an area prone to earthquakes. What no one knew though, was just what sort of impact this particular earthquake would have.

We immediately checked all of our staff were safe - some had lost their homes and some had lost relatives, but as is so often the case with humanitarian workers, they were ready to pivot from our long-term development programming to start the emergency response. One of our South Sudan team, who is usually focussed on responding to the overwhelming crisis in that country, was on her rest and recovery time in Nepal at the time the earthquake rocked the country, she too swiftly joined the emergency response.

And from our Edinburgh HQ where I am based, we rapidly geared up. People came into the office and we were online across all our locations working with the Nepal team to assess what the needs were and we immediately launched our fundraising drive on the same day as the earthquake hit.

All week, our teams have been distributing emergency supplies to suburbs in Kathmandu and in rural villages outside the capital. We are working through local police, youth groups, mother support groups and farmers committees to ensure we are identifying the most vulnerable people who need our help. One village we reached this week, Barpak in Gorkha, only has 100 out of 1,400 homes still standing.

Having responded to almost every natural disaster in the last ten years, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, we know that in the immediate days and weeks following the disaster, people will desperately need food, water and shelter. They will also need to keep clean and healthy. These are the main priorities and we are urgently working to meet them.

But, we also know that in the immediate aftermath of an emergency response, decisions made during this time can impact how quickly a country can recover, and it is important to plan the next steps and assess what will be needed to help the country build back.

In parallel with our urgent distributions, we are looking at what survivors will need in the coming months in order to shift the reliance off humanitarian aid. This will very much depend on whether the markets can get back up and running, if the roads are open and if trucks and traders can get through.

Over the next one to two weeks, our teams will be undertaking market assessments, looking at what people can buy, especially with many having lost their food stocks and livestock. Once we ensure that there are commodities to purchase, we will work through our existing financial inclusion partners, such as savings and loans and microfinance institutions, to begin getting cash back into the hands of people so they can buy what they need. This type of programming not only helps to stimulate the economy, but helps with the recovery process by giving people a sense of empowerment.

As we continue our urgent distributions of humanitarian aid to survivors of the Nepal Earthquake, we're already looking to how we can help sustain and meet their needs over the coming months. This is going to be a long recovery process for the country of Nepal and we intend to help for as long as it takes.