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Nepal Project: Rainbow of Hope for Children Facing Pandemic Without Supplies
Joe Gubbels, Edmonton
Volume 34 Issue 4, 5 & 6 | Posted: July 2, 2020
Although Rainbow of Hope for Children (ROHFC) is a very small society involved in international development in specific areas, it has a DISASTER ASSISTANCE POLICY for emergency needs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors received requests for assistance from Nepal and El Salvador where we have active development projects. The board passed a motion to support the two requests to the amount of $50,000. It is for this reason that I am sending this letter to give you an opportunity to contribute to this project.
Although Rainbow of Hope for Children (ROHFC) is a very small society involved in international development in specific areas, it has a DISASTER ASSISTANCE POLICY for emergency needs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the board of directors received requests for assistance from Nepal and El Salvador where we have active development projects. The board passed a motion to support the two requests to the amount of $50,000. It is for this reason that I am sending this letter to give you an opportunity to contribute to this project.
Although both requests merit an urgent response, I decided to focus on the extreme need in Nepal where I volunteered to travel to monitor ROHFC projects in 2018. I saw the poverty of many families that were just recovering from the 2015 devastating earthquake in which nearly 9,000 people died and thousands were injured. More than 800,000 lost their homes and 2.8 million were displaced.
Nepal, with a population of nearly 30 million, is one of the least developed and most densely populated regions of the world. It has inadequate levels of education, health care and sanitation. Therefore, it is considered one of the highest risk areas for the pandemic and also one of the least prepared. Despite relatively few confirmed cases, the virus is now spreading through many of the country’s rural districts.
Nepal desperately needs basic items such as testing kits, personal protective equipment and medical supplies. Now with the country-wide lockdown there is a huge problem of shortage of food and basic supplies especially by the homeless, landless, lowest caste families and daily wage workers.
Hari Devkota, president of the High Himalayan Community Development Center (HHCPN), our trusted volunteer contact for the Nepal projects, has identified starvation as the most imminent threat especially for the poor. At the initial stages of the Pandemic this social welfare organization delivered immediate basic needs of soaps, masks and sanitary supplies. The HHCPN board members, local government authorities and police are volunteering their time to distribute aid to those most in need.
The Ghana and Peru project that I am now directing are continuing. I must report that through your contributions, we recently received the required funds of $50,000.00 to construct the first stage of the school building in Bantambaari, Ghana. Thank you!!! Now, my immediate focus is on Nepal.
We Canadians take so much for granted. Yes, we have our problems of isolation and other concerns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But, many of us are not suffering in a way that those in Nepal are suffering. For this reason, I request that you open your hearts and wallets for your brothers and sisters in Nepal.
Should you wish to contribute to this project, send your donation as follows: RAINBOW OF HOPE, Wainwright, AB T9W 1S7 PO Box 2883. Mark your donation: “Nepal COVID-19”.
Joe Gubbels, Edmonton