This is day 6 after the violent earthquake that shook Nepal. Officials say Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude quake injured at least 11,000 people.The UN says more than eight million people have been affected and about 70,000 houses destroyed. The current death toll is around 5500 and climbing as villages and towns dig out and re-establish communication.
In the midst of the tragedy are small miracles. Yesterday a four month-old baby boy was found alive. He was pulled from the rubble covered in gray dust and dehydrated but otherwise okay. Last evening an 11 year-old girl was rescued. Today a 15 year-old boy was carefully pulled from a fallen building and a 20 year-old woman who had been working as a maid at one of the hostels was found alive. It took rescue teams from five different countries to reach the woman by digging for hours through rubble and then carefully extracting her. The entire rescue operation took about 8 hours. She was awake but in a weakened condition.
The miracles happen alongside the misery. Medics say many who survived the quake are now falling ill because they have been living in the open and drinking contaminated water. A doctor at Kathmandu’s Bir Hospital, said at least 1,200 people with water-borne illnesses have been admitted since Wednesday morning. This disaster will cause havoc for a long, long time not to mention the grief that will be a national trauma.
One of the advantages to our global community and our instantaneous communication is that we can know what is happening half way round the world the minute it is happening. To hear the stories coming out of Nepal is both horrifying and inspiring. Thankfully, the United Church, along with many, many agencies, is sending financial aid which is being matched dollar-for-dollar by the federal government. Our United Church partner, the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), has expressed appreciation for the rapid response of several governments and aid agencies in rescue and relief operations. General Secretary-Elect Dr. Mathews George Chunakara made a special appeal to the global church: “We urge the ecumenical family to extend every possible support for humanitarian aid assistance in Nepal and other affected areas.” As we watch the news and read the paper, noting the devastation, writing a cheque seems like not much, but it can be the one way we do what we can to assist people struck down by tragedy.
Do what you can.
