30 Families Receive Roofing Material

As we continue our earthquake relief programs here in Nepal, we have provided roofing material to 30 families who lost their homes in the village of Itagol. With the approval of the village disaster relief committee, we chose the most needy 30 families and provided them with zinc sheets for roofing.

Itagol is located in a suburb of Kathmandu. I arrived at the village of Itagol with Rev. Sobhitha and Mr. Bikash after a short taxi ride. I came here on the request of Mr. Bikash who had visited the area earlier and told me that people in this village needed help.

It is always shocking to see how the earthquake has destroyed buildings. While touring the village, we met many families who lost everything including their homes. Their misery and pain was so obvious as I listened to their sad stories. At the end of my tour I met with the village chairman and the committee members. There were so many needs and many people needed help.

I asked the committee members one question. What is the most urgent need at the moment? They all agreed that 30 families who lost homes urgently needed temporary shelter and I could help them by providing roofing material. These families were living in tents and they were willing to make their shelters on their own land if I were to provide them zinc sheets for roofs.

The monk who accompanied me, Rev. Sobhitha, and I agreed with the committee. We got in our taxi and immediately went out looking for a wholesale store to buy roofing material. Within three hours, surprising the village committee, we arrived with the required amount of zinc sheets for roofing for all 30 families.

It was already getting dark but the eager villagers who had lost their homes gathered in one location and we were able to distribute the zinc sheets for roofs for all 30 families before we returned to the temple that night. We are grateful to the sponsors of our humanitarian efforts in Nepal.