March 28, 2024

Rettinger, Hirshberg Interviewed by FLS About Nepal COVID Relief Efforts

Professors David Rettinger (back row, left) and Dan Hirshberg (back row, right) with students on a study abroad trip to Nepal.

Professors David Rettinger (back row, left) and Dan Hirshberg (back row, right) with students on a study abroad trip to Nepal.

Professor of Psychological Science David Rettinger and Associate Professor of Religion Dan Hirshberg were interviewed for an article in The Free Lance-Star on Nepal’s COVID outbreak and local COVID relief efforts to help Fredericksburg’s Sister City of Kathmandu. Rettinger and Hirshberg have organized several study abroad trips to Nepal for UMW students.

“Their outbreak is even worse than India’s, if you can believe it, but it’s not getting as much attention,” said David Rettinger about Nepal, which is experiencing upwards of 8,600 new cases a day as almost half of all people tested for the virus have it. “The news is getting worse and worse with each passing day, and Nepal’s health care system is not prepared for this pandemic.”

Rettinger is a professor at the University of Mary Washington and the public relations chairman of the Sister-City Program that pairs Fredericksburg with partners in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. He’s spreading the word about the local effort to raise money, through an online fundraiser, to purchase vital medical supplies such as oxygen concentrators and nasal tubes that deliver the much-needed air supply to patients. Read more.