Ecuador’s government has declared a state of emergency and has deployed army troops, firefighters and heavy equipment to search for those that remain missing. Many highways, air traffic control and other buildings along the coast have collapsed. In Manta, Salesian missionaries operate a school, a parish, an oratory and a center for street children and are reporting that entire families are homeless and totally unprotected. There is a shortage of food and water and people forced to live on the streets without basic services are suffering, especially children and the elderly.

After the earthquake struck, missionaries in Ecuador responded immediately helping to dig through rubble to look for trapped survivors and providing assistance to those affected. Salesian programs across the country have been working to collect emergency aid and coordinate volunteer efforts.

In order to ensure effective coordination and delivery of emergency aid, Salesians missionaries are collaborating with Ecuador’s governmental and non-governmental bodies active in the areas damaged by the earthquake. Salesian missionaries have already coordinated several shipments of materials that were delivered from other Salesian programs within the Manabi Province and two Salesian doctors and two nurses were sent to help the most affected communities.

“Hundreds of youth and adults within Salesian programs have organized campaigns to collect basic necessities such as water and non-perishable foods and we have already helped more than 7,000 families with food, shelter and medicine,” says Father Maffeo Panteghini, provincial economer who went to Manta to assess the damage. “Salesian missionaries are continuing to assist those most in need and making a long-term plan to help more than 42,000 with basic needs and long-term rebuilding.”

While responding to those in need, Salesian missionaries are also working to address the damage sustained to several of their buildings during the earthquake. Father Jorge Molina, provincial in Ecuador, has formed a support team to address this crisis. Damage to the school, the parish and a retreat house, as well as many of the buildings in the surrounding community, is quite extensive.

“There are 1,800 students attending the Salesian College of San Jose and many have been left homeless,” says Marcelo Mejia, delegate for social communication of the province of Ecuador. “Many of our students live in the area near the school where the damage is irreparable. There have been many stories we have heard of great sorrow our students are going through for the loss of loved ones.”

For now, the church, retreat house and school are closed. However, community members continue to seek assistance and shelter from the missionaries who are responding with aid as best they can. In the coming weeks and months, missionaries will work to assess damage and put a plan into place for responding to aid requests and rebuilding needs.

Headquartered in New Rochelle, New York, Salesian Missions has launched a Disaster in Ecuador fund to help the victims of the earthquake. To raise money for the fund, the Catholic nonprofit aid organization has launched an emergency fundraising campaign and is issuing an urgent appeal for donations. Go to http://www.salesianmissions.org/ecuador.

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Sources:

Ecuador – Father Molina: “I am concerned for my brothers and those who suffer”

Ecuador – 250 thousand children affected by the earthquake. The Salesians are at work

The post ECUADOR: Salesian Missionaries Create Action Plan to Assist More Than 42,000 Affected by Earthquake first appeared on MissionNewswire.

Forty of Nepal’s 75 districts have been affected, 16 of them severely, with homes, buildings, cattle, fields ready for harvest and other property destroyed. There are more than 500,000 people who have been displaced as a result of the earthquakes who are in desperate need of tents, food, water and medicine.

The second earthquake hit the already devastated regions of Dolahka and Sindhupalchok making an already difficult situation worse. Salesian missionaries have been tapping financial resources and organizing volunteers to aid as many victims as possible.

“An earthquake again rocked Nepal leaving us in shock and panic”, reported Salesian missionaries working in Kathmandu. “However, there was no damage to our properties and personnel that has been reported so far. Though warned of a more powerful quake than the previous one, no injuries or damages were reported from our communities and we continue to provide relief work.”

After the first earthquake, Salesian priests, brothers and sisters (who are living and working in Kathmandu and surrounding villages) immediately responded to those in need. Risking their own safety, Salesian missionaries assessed the damage and began bringing residents food aid and tarps to provide shelter to those who had lost their homes. Close to 1,000 people were provided aid the evening of the earthquake.

Once Salesian missionaries could access remote villages that were unreachable due to blocked roads and debris directly after the earthquake, they immediately supplied village residents with large quantities of provisions and relief kits including food, clothing, hygiene products and other necessities.

In the two weeks since the earthquake, the Nepal Don Bosco Society, a non governmental organization affiliated with the Social Welfare Council of Nepal, has reached out to more than 30,000 people (close to 7,800 families) within 19 villages across six districts and distributed more than 100 tons of relief materials. In addition, with funding from the Salesian Kolkata Province in India and other donors, 60 tons of food and tarps were sent across the border from Siliguri, India to Nepal.

Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco, launched an emergency fund immediately following the first earthquake to assist Salesian missionaries in Nepal. Salesian Missions offices in Italy, Germany, Austria, Australia, China, Korea, Japan and India have also been supporting the relief work on the ground in Nepal.

“Salesian missionaries have been providing education and social development services in Nepal since the 1990s, and because these missionaries are part of the community, they are well positioned to provide immediate aid after disasters like this earthquake,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions. “Reports from missionaries on the ground in Nepal indicate that many people have lost everything and are living in tents exposed to cold and rainy weather. The second earthquake has caused more devastation and fear and has left those affected in a more desperate situation.”

“Salesian missionaries are continuing to provide aid and emergency relief but supplies are limited. The emergency appeal will help missionaries on the ground provide aid directly to those who need it most,” adds Fr. Hyde.

Salesian Missions is urging the public to donate to its Nepal Emergency Fund, which will go directly to support missionaries currently working on the ground helping those affected by the devastation and aftermath of the earthquake. Go to www.SalesianMissions.org/Nepal for more information and to give to the relief efforts.

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Sources

ANS – Nepal – Earthquake again; Salesians are unhurt

Don Bosco India – A Salesian response to the earthquake’s aftermath

CNN – Death toll from this week’s Nepal earthquake rises above 125

The post NEPAL: Salesian Missionaries Respond Providing Continued Relief and Assistance after Second Earthquake Hits Nepal first appeared on MissionNewswire.