12 Aug Emergency Appeal for Nepal: We did it!
You may remember I wrote to you back in May explaining the desperate situation of families in Nepal who were facing starvation due to lockdown. It gives me great pleasure to let you know that with your fantastic support, we hit our Emergency Appeal fundraising target of £19,000! In fact we exceeded it! These funds have already been transferred to Nepal where protective equipment and emergency food parcels are being purchased and distributed.
It has been truly incredible to see your generosity over the past month, and I can’t thank you enough for your support. Although we have hit the target, our staff are reporting many more hungry families, so the appeal will remain open if you would like to donate.
To show how much your support means to us, I’m pleased to share a personal story from a young 19-year-old mother who expresses so well the life-changing difference your donations have made.
Kusum’s story
“I do not know who provided this support, but I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
My name is Kusum. I am 19-years-old and I have three children. My husband went to the Gorkha district to earn money, so I am taking care of these children on my own. He works as a labourer but I have not been able to contact him since lockdown.
We had no proper food for weeks. To save the life of my children I started foraging in the forest for mushroom and yams. But as everybody has had the same idea, they became very scarce. As a mother it is so painful to hear your children crying for food.
I had to go further. I started walking for four hours to find mushrooms and yams. Sometimes I only found a few, so I could feed my children but not myself. I have a small baby who I am breastfeeding. At night she sucks my milk, so sometimes when I woke in the morning I felt dizzy and could not walk to the jungle. On those days, none of us ate.
When I heard that there would be food distribution, I walked with my baby for four hours. I felt super happy when I realised there was going to be food – it felt like a festival! I really thank God for this day. I felt so happy realising that my children and I will feel a full stomach after such a long time.
I do not know who provided this support, but I really like to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. This has been an answer to prayer for me and my family. From today I can stay at home and do not need to spend hours trekking to the forest.
Dherai dherai dhanyabad (thank you so much) to all the supporters. I wish them a very happy life.
Kusum