Devastation in Nepal

Our thoughts are with the people of Nepal. Reports of the impact of Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake continue to be sobering. The death toll now exceeds 6,000, many more people are injured and more than 130,000 houses have been destroyed. According to UNICEF, more than 1.7 million children require humanitarian assistance.

Nepal is one of the poorer countries in the world with high levels of hunger and poverty. According to the American Red Cross, “The scale of the devastation is still being uncovered and getting to some of the most severely affected areas is not easy. Due to Nepal’s mountainous terrain and poor road infrastructure, reaching affected villages often means using Sherpa’s to carry the materials on foot up narrow mountain paths.”

The best way to help those affected is to make a monetary donation to a reputable humanitarian organization working in the disaster zone. Examples include CARE, the Red Cross and UNICEF.

CARE

Canada: http://care.ca/

Mexico and the United States: http://www.care.org/

United Kingdom: http://www.careinternational.org.uk/

The Red Cross

Canada: http://www.redcross.ca/

Mexico: http://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/where-we-work/americas/mexican-red-cross/

United Kingdom: http://www.redcross.org.uk/

United States: http://www.redcross.org/

UNICEF

Canada: http://www.unicef.ca/

Mexico: http://www.unicef.org/mexico/spanish/