Caritas Nepal - a year after the earthquake

Nepal on Sunday marked the 1st anniversary of a devastating earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people ‎and left millions homeless.  Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli held a ceremony laying a wreath at the ‎ruins of the historic Dharahara tower in the heart of the capital Kathmandu on April 25 to mark the ‎anniversary.  Minor protests were also held, with demonstrators angry at the slow rate of reconstruction ‎in the wake of the 7.8-magnitude quake that destroyed more than 600,000 homes and damaged around ‎‎185,000 in the poor Himalayan nation where some 25% of the population lives below the poverty line. ‎

Soon after disaster struck last year on April 25,  among the numerous organizations and agencies that ‎swung into action was Caritas Nepal, the  relief, development and social service organization of the ‎Catholic Church in the country.  Caritas Nepal is a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation ‎of over 160 similar Catholic organizations operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.  To commemorate the ‎earthquake anniversary, Caritas Nepal organized a conference in Kathmandu, April 25-28, with its ‎partners, to assess the ‎progress made and plan future strategies.  Well, we managed to catch up with Fr. Silas Bogati, the ‎Executive Director of Caritas Nepal, to know about the Caritas’ work.  Speaking on the phone from ‎Kathmandu, Fr. Silas first gave us this update.‎

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