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                 On The Scene: Aid Reaches Nepal Quake Victims

   by Steve Herman

   Officials in Nepal are conceding "weaknesses" in managing the country's
   earthquake relief operations, but vow the situation will improve in the
   coming days. Since Saturday's 7.8 magnitude earthquake, authorities
   have struggled to reach communities outside of the capital city,
   Kathmandu.
   Among those who wish help had arrived sooner are residents of Sankhu, a
   community of 10,000 people about 18 kilometers east of the capital.
   Locals estimate their community lost more than 80 percent of its
   buildings in the earthquake.
   But residents say the vast majority of the town was spared because the
   adults were working in the fields, and children were playing when the
   quake struck at midday. So far, 81 bodies have been pulled from the
   rubble, according to residents on Wednesday.
   A group of Nepalese army soldiers arrived in Sankhu a few days ago.
   Colonel Govind Chettri of the Armed Police Force told VOA at Sankhu he
   empathized with the frustration of locals who wanted more help to
   arrive sooner, but he said Nepal's government has very limited
   resources in the best of times, and has been doing its utmost to help.
   The first foreign teams with more sophisticated search equipment
   reached Sankhu on Wednesday, including a group of Chinese civilians who
   spent their own money to come to Nepal. The team, called "Blue Sky
   Rescue" from Guizhou province has been combing through rubble, in the
   remote chance they can find someone alive more than four days after the
   quake struck.
   Other rescuers include a small number of French and Singaporean teams
   who are helping to look for bodies. A Sikh group from New Delhi, India,
   has brought in food and fresh water to set up a makeshift cafeteria at
   a school where families have gathered.
   In one room of the school as many as 22 people have taken up residence.
   Most others are in the fields under tarps held up by bamboo sticks.
   Many Sankhu residents are anxious to dig out the grain stored in their
   shattered homes.
   "My house has been destroyed," said Sunmaya Maharajan, 65, who was
   buried up to her neck in rubble until neighbors and police dug her out.
   "Now, where am I going to go? What am I going to do? What am I going to
   eat? There's a lot of worries here."
   One of her neighbors, whose house was also destroyed, Pushkar Dangol,
   52, characterized Nepal's government assistance as a token.
   "We've not received from the government any help worth mentioning," he
   said. "Just some tarps and little bits here and there. But there's been
   no package of help.
   Many in the town with whom VOA News spoke are resigned to the fact
   their homes are destroyed and loved ones are dead. But they are anxious
   to get the rubble cleared so they can try to retrieve their precious
   grains. Otherwise, they say, they worry they will starve in the months
   ahead after the relief agencies pack up and leave.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/on-the-scene-aid-reaches-nepal-quake-
   victims/2741400.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/on-the-scene-aid-reaches-nepal-quake-victims/2741400.html