(Vatican Radio) On April 25th 2015 a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Nepal leaving devastation in its wake. Yet one year on the thousands of people who lost everything in the disaster are still living in temporary shelters made from salvaged wood covered with corrugated metal sheets.Although little progress has been made in rebuilding the many homes destroyed as a result of the quake, aid agencies in the country are helping the population to rebuild their lives.One of those organisations is the UK based Catholic aid agency CAFOD. The agency and its partners, were on the front line in the immediate aftermath of the disaster reaching hundreds of thousands of people with vital aid, including food, shelter and hygiene and sanitation kits and warm materials to help them through the winter.Director of CAFOD’s partner Caritas Nepal, Fr. Silas Bogati said that the Caritas Confederation has reached out to 350 thousand people.Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s i...
(Vatican Radio) On April 25th 2015 a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Nepal leaving devastation in its wake. Yet one year on the thousands of people who lost everything in the disaster are still living in temporary shelters made from salvaged wood covered with corrugated metal sheets.
Although little progress has been made in rebuilding the many homes destroyed as a result of the quake, aid agencies in the country are helping the population to rebuild their lives.
One of those organisations is the UK based Catholic aid agency CAFOD. The agency and its partners, were on the front line in the immediate aftermath of the disaster reaching hundreds of thousands of people with vital aid, including food, shelter and hygiene and sanitation kits and warm materials to help them through the winter.
Director of CAFOD’s partner Caritas Nepal, Fr. Silas Bogati said that the Caritas Confederation has reached out to 350 thousand people.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Fr Silas Bogati
“We have provided temporary shelter materials and food and non food items to restart their lives but that is not enough now, we have come around with a one year cycle, people have faced a hard monsoon also winter…so it is essential to start the reconstruction of permanent shelter for these people and the government has just given us permission to do that.”
CAFOD is working with two communities in Rasuwa District displaced from their remote villages, which were totally destroyed by the earthquake.
The agency's partners have also trained more than 250 construction workers and masons in earthquake-proof techniques.
According to Fr Bogati, despite what the people have had to endure, they remain steadfast in their hope that they will have a brighter future to look forward to.
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