Dear Friend
We could see – in the social media at least – that our prayer-call for Nepal was very well received in the different countries and we have to thank for so much care and solidarity with the victims of the Nepal earthquake.
Aid to the Church in Need reacted directly with a “small” (for the magnitude of the disaster) urgent help for Bishop Paul, €20,000, so that he can use the amount for the requests and needs in the vicariate that he considers priority. This project was approved last week.
Emergency assistance is being supplied by major international relief agencies and NGO’s at the moment, as you probably hear in the news, help is there but the challenge to coordinate and bring the help to the population is the biggest problem now.
We are keeping in touch with the vicariate and see what are their needs in the coming weeks and we envisage being able to offer them medium to long-term help to get back on their feet. As Fr. Silas Bogati, Vicar General in Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal wrote to us: “The Jesuits of Nepal, along with other religious communities and the Vicariate of Nepal, are fortunate in that we suffered no loss of life or serious injury. There has been some damage to buildings at our institutions. When the risk of after-shocks has passed we will assess the situation more closely, in order to assure the safety of those we teach and serve. St. Xavier’s schools, college and St. Mary’s school and Assumption Church have opened its compound for anyone who wants shelter. Caritas Nepal is making assessment in various districts to make response”. “We have been coordinating and networking with various agencies and religious groups as well. We have enough volunteers for the next few days. We hope to begin the rehabilitation plans after doing some assessment. We still need to organize ourselves to carry out the relief work more efficiently and effectively. We hope to update about the progress of the relief operation“.
In the meantime we would keep giving the “prayerful support” of the wider church as an enormous help to the local church, who is providing aid to those in immediate and in dire need, and to help Nepal also to recover from the devastating impact of the earthquake.
Stephen Axisa
National Director (Malta)
The major earthquake, which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale, shook Nepal just before noon on Saturday, causing major damage to the densely-populated Kathmandu Valley. The official death toll has reached more than 5,500.
