Numerous Boston organizations are stepping up to send assistance and humanitarian aid to Katmandu, Nepal’s capital, as concern about shortages of food and water supplies increase following the massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the region over the weekend.
“The situation in Nepal is absolutely awful…many people are living outside with constant earthquakes and they're running out of water and the prices of food have risen already, “says Brigitte Collins, who along with her husband Joe Collins are co-founding directors of Friends of Maiti Nepal Boston http://www.friendsofmaitinepal.org
The death toll continues to climb and frightened residents in remote mountain regions, whose houses have collapsed, are sleeping outside to stay safe due to strong aftershocks.
Collins tells WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay, “we have been intimately living in Nepal for 25 years, and it’s basically our second home.”
Maiti Nepal is a non-profit organization in Nepal dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking. Currently, it operates a rehabilitation home in Kathmandu, as well as transit homes at the Indo-Nepal
“We are speaking daily with the Maiti ( pronounced MY-tee) Nepal in Katmando, where we have 581 girls in the rescue center. Thank goodness the rescue center walls held up during the earthquake, but the girls are living out in the courtyard in makeshift tents with no food or water, “ says Joe Collins.
He says there have been 47 tremors and the young girls are afraid to go back into the building.
The organization is both raising funds and collecting donations of blankets, clothes and other necessities.
Maiti Nepal has eleven interception residences where they help young girls who are at risk and are intercepted, escape from sex traffickers. The organization reports there were no injuries at Maiti Nepal, there are many broken windows and there was complete destruction of all electronic equipment including computers, monitors and printers.
To listen to Bob Seay's interview from Morning Edition click on the link below:
