On May 16 Fr. Norbert with a group of 5 people went to Hindung, a village in Serthung VDC, for medical assistance. It’s a 4 hour walk, a rough and dangerous trek.   After the earthquake they were the first medical team to reach, except the first rescue mission by the government.

They stayed overnight in the village.  The team could not go to another village, Neber, close to Hindung, because the medicine supply was insufficient.  The trek they took was so dangerous that they decided to take another round about trek via Lingjo, to their surprised the trek was equally bad and they had to walk three hours more.  The team reached home safely.

Relief materials are arriving and being distributed to the people, however the distributing committees are not doing their work properly.  There is much argument and quarreling about who gets what and how much.  

The Indian helicopter that brings relief materials lands where they think is best, and sometimes the people will not know how much has arrived. The security personnel are trying to run up and down registering and reporting.

We are trying to start morning and evening classes for the children.  Now we need to find a proper place.  Our Aama Samaj is ready to start BBC (Baal Bikash Centre) soon with the help of Buwas who will help them put up a shelter.  We are waiting for some good tents and tarpaulins. The day is fixed to go to the forest to collect the poles and wood needed.  Our Internet system is giving us a lot of trouble.  It does not connect regularly.  The is a problem with the set we use.  However, we are lucky that it works sometimes.  We have problems attaching anything with the mail we send.                                                                                                  

Samuel Simick, SJ

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

It has been 16 days since the devastating earthquake hit Tipling VDC, together with many parts of              Nepal. The situation is getting under control. People have accepted their fate and have now started to collect and to rebuild their lives and houses. The first-hand data shows that there are 9 wards in this VDC, totaling 547 houses; there are more than 3,229 people affected by this earthquake. Out of 3,229 people 1,179 of them are outside the village, working or studying. There were 9 deaths and 11 injured; and many animals were killed during this earthquake.

All the people are under the make shift tents, because every house is damaged and unfit for staying inside. Not only have the houses been destroyed, but also the access trails leading to the VDC from Dhading Basi and Shebru Besi have been swept away by the landslides in various places. The only possibility of reaching the village now is through helicopter, or take the dangerous trek with landslides, which will take around two to three days to reach the VDC and carrying any useful material is almost impossible.

Nine days after the earthquake, Fr. Samuel Simick, after many attempts and helps from many well-wishers, could reach the Mission. Till that time Fr. Norbert D'Souza with the help of a few friends collected the data and was able to save many useful things of the community as well as of people. Fr. Norbert went through all the 9 wards to help the victims and collect the data. He went to different villages with our mobile health team to help the injured. Only yesterday, (10/05/2015) a makeshift tent for Tipling Jesuits was setup. There is no chance of staying in the old rented Jesuits Residence. And the Priests were busy helping the people in different ways.

The weather is still cold and wet. We have rain almost every evening. The tents could hold for few months at the most-we hope. The rainy season is approaching. It remains till October in this area, therefore, we need some kind of temporary shelter that could withhold heavy rain and hailstones occasionally. Rebuilding of the houses will not be possible one the rainy season starts. Things do not move as smoothly in this area as in other places. We don't have engineers, builders, labourers, and supply of building materials.

Food supplies are getting low! The shops that used to keep things are empty; the trails that used to carry things by mule are no more. People are trying to get anything that they could. The relief that people are getting is not quite enough. One trip of helicopter-a big one-can carry around 2000 kgs of goods. The smaller helicopter can carry only about 400 kgs of goods. The government pays for the big helicopter but the smaller ones are for the rescue and sometimes privately hired ones, which could cost from 80,000 to 1,50,000 Nepali Rupees (USD 785 – USD 1,470). Some organizations have supplied with food items but they could bring it only till where the vehicles could come. People from the villages have gone to carry the food items. People could carry only a small amount and all the families could not go to bring the food items because they are busy with their own works-repairing the broken houses, looking after the animals, farming etc.

We need all that assistance that we can get, immediately.

Yours Sincerely In Christ Jesus

Samuel Simick SJ

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There was another quake of 7.3 magnitude this afternoon (12 May, 2015) at around 12. 55 pm. According to the reports so far thirty-five people have been killed and over 1000 were injured due to the fresh quake. At least four people , died in Chautara in Sindhupalchok district north of the capital Kathmandu, after several buildings collapsed. The U.S. Geological Survey said that the quake was centered 68 km (about 42 miles) west of the town of Namche Bazar, close to Mount Everest. It was felt as far away as New Delhi and Dhaka. People in Kathmandu, panic stricken after the April 25 quake, rushed outdoors. Parents could be seen clutching children tightly and hundreds of people were frantically trying to call relatives on their mobile phones. Shopkeepers closed their shops and the streets were jammed with people rushing to check on their families.

The fresh quake has triggered uncertainty and fear in the minds of the people again. Life was just starting to pick up after last month's quake which killed over 8000 people and injured close to 18,000 people. Educational institutions were supposed to open at the end of this week. People had begun to move back to their houses. But with this fresh tremor, people in the capital were seen erecting makeshift shelters again.

All our people and institutions are safe so far. We await for more news.

Jomon Jose Kanniattukunnel, S.J

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This article consists of letters from Jesuits in the area – for further updates go to www.jcsaweb.org

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Donations may be made through Canadian Jesuits International.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++