Relief news update from Nepal - 23 Dec 2009  
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Supreme Master Ching Hai International Association relief news update from Nepal.
From October 3 to 7, Nepal was swept with unexpected torrential rains that overflowed the Yangon and Pantura rivers, triggering severe landslides and floods. Over 50 people perished, including many children, as homes were swept away or collapsed in the districts of Dadeldhura, Achham, Kanchanpur and Bajhang.
Thousands were rendered homeless, while blocked roadways hindered relief efforts.

On October 7, Supreme Master Ching Hai donated US$10,000, conveying her heavy heart and her prayers as she requested that our native or nearby Association members go help those most in need.
This amount could acquire US$426,000 in urgent items if bought in the United States, based on Nepal’s cost of living. Our Association’s native members first completed relief work in Bajhang district and then traveled the long distance to Achham district, one of the most remote and underdeveloped areas of Nepal.

Accompanied by a local police officer, the relief team went to survey the situation and met four families who had lost 10 loved ones, with two who had lost all their family members.
Since we are homeless, we are staying in others' houses along with our children and mother-in-law. Had it rained for 5 to 10 minutes more, our whole village would be gone.

Victim, Accham District, Nepal (M): Others were dead and we the remaining ones didn’t know where to go, what to do or how to survive.

VOICE: The officer helped our Association members arrange relief packages for 113 families, seven of whom had lost loved ones. The team then distributed the packages containing rice, dried beans, oil, and blankets along with financial aid to the bereaved at the local Siddha Baba Temple. Supplies for the 29 families who lived too far away were given to the police personnel who had offered to deliver them. Government dignitaries,
officials and a representative of the Red Cross Society were also present and expressed their appreciation to Supreme Master Ching Hai.

The local people in Achham notified the relief team of two families in another district, Dadeldhura, who had lost family members, with two children who had survived the calamities by hiding inside a drum.
Our Association members thus provided them with relief materials and cash assistance.

achham relief+thanks giving Victim, Accham District, Nepal (M): We would like to express our gratitude to Supreme Master Ching Hai for providing us, the flood victims, with relief.

Mr. Prem Bahadur Saud, President of the Dune sub-chapter of the Nepal Red Cross Society (M): For having relieved the afflicted, I would like to extend my genuine thankfulness to Supreme Master Ching Hai.

VOICE: We thank the police officer and other local personnel for their assistance. Our gratefulness goes to Supreme Master Ching Hai for her generosity and heartfelt care for the vulnerable, and to our Association’s relief team for their diligent endeavors.

We pray for the Nepali people’s swift return to the regularity of daily life and that such weather extremities subside as we foster kinder, eco-balancing ways.

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