A strong earthquake hit the western part of Nepal on November 3. The epicentre is near the town of Jajarkot. There, much is broken and there is a lack of just about everything. Our partner's team from Pokhara has been providing aid in the form of food parcels, clothes, blankets and tents for several weeks. Raju, one of the team members writes what he is experiencing.
Snow and cold
We arrived in Jajarkot yesterday. This morning it was raining and very cold. We drove over some very challenging rough roads to the mountain village of Barekot, at an altitude of two thousand metres. There we met some Christian brothers involved in the local government network. They helped us determine who needed help. It has started snowing in the mountains and it is now ten degrees below zero. People are dying because of the cold. We met a group of Christian people, who held a funeral service for a brother who died this morning from the cold. He had a chronic illness and lived with his family in a small tent. It was sad to see all this.
We had a discussion with the village chiefs about setting up a distribution line for relief goods. They were very happy with this help. They indicated that many houses still look reasonable on the outside but are full of cracks on the inside. They are uninhabitable.
Pneumonia
There are still aftershocks, as many as two or three every day. One lady said they were sleeping when the earthquake started. The trees around the house fell through the roof on top of her and she was injured. They had to spend the nights outside. This seriously affected her little son, who had pneumonia. They went to a clinic for treatment, but he was not admitted there. Twenty-nine days later, they returned home, with no solution to the problem. "Why is this happening to us?" she wonders. There are many people with similar stories.
Warm clothes and food
The team is busy packing relief supplies and loading trucks. This week, they will begin their journey. They will arrive at the scene the day after tomorrow. We will then start distributing relief goods immediately. We hope to help about two hundred and fifty households with warm clothes and food. In addition, we have two hundred packages for mothers. There will also be zinc plates, to repair the houses. We are already preparing for the next phases of the plan.
Your prayers are needed
Our partner asks that you pray for distribution: transport, coordination and cooperation with governments, communities and churches. But above all for the people who have to sleep outdoors in the cold and snow. We can hardly imagine that life.
