Pray for Nepal
Hello everyone! I hope that you are doing well and enjoying some of the easing of the Covid restrictions for those of you in the UK. I had brunch indoors in a cafe today which was wonderful and am very relieved that we can once again hug our friends and family!
While life is easing and opening up for us in the West, the picture in Nepal right now is looking very different. I am sure that you have seen the utter devastation of what is happening in India from the news.. and India and Nepal share an open border of over 1000 miles (1770km). Nepal is now also being battered under a second wave of Covid, and this time it is significantly more serious than it was a year ago. There is not enough space in hospitals or enough oxygen for patients, there are ventilators can't be used due to lack of staff who are trained to use them and there is not enough space to cremate all the bodies. The graph has shot up both of new cases and deaths. Many many cases, however, are going unreported and there is no contact tracing.
Covid has been a disaster all around the world, but, reading the news from Nepal every day, I can't help but think about how much more devastating the scene looks in developing countries compared to in the Western world. Social distancing, isolation, hand sanitiser, oxygen supplies, government furlough schemes giving 80% salary and vaccinations are privileges for the rich. This just doesn't happen in many parts of the world. A very fitting quote which I have seen a number of times over the last year is "We are all in the same storm but we are not in the same boat."
And I know this virus is devastating for everyone, and millions have lost loved ones, lost livelihoods, suffer with long Covid, and I'm not diminishing how horrendous that is - but how much worse is it for those who don't have any savings, who don't have access to healthcare, who don't have running water, who lived in poverty before the pandemic hit, and are now in dire straits.
Here is a really great article written by a family who are connected to KISC (the school in Kathmandu that I work at) and who work in one of the city hospitals. It gives a real insight from "on the ground" as to what life looks like.
For me personally, I am still safe and well on the south coast of Hampshire, living with my friend/colleague on Nepal time (4h45m ahead of UK time) so that we can teach live on Zoom at 4am every day without going crazy!
Living my best life working online.... 🙂
I was SUPER blessed to be vaccinated in April, which was an amazing answer to prayer (note the vaccination sticker!) This means that my second vaccination will be at the end of June and I will, in theory, be able to travel back to Nepal and have enough time to quarantine before the start of the new academic year at the end of July.
However, of course, it very much depends now on the situation in Nepal. School is fully online for the time being whilst the Covid cases are so high. The airport is currently closed so I can't return. Please pray that God makes a way for us to travel back at the right time.
But more than that, PLEASE PRAY FOR NEPAL! Please pray for the hospital workers who are overwhelmed, for those who are sick, for international aid to reach the nation, for oxygen, for families who are bereaved, for those in the remote villages who have limited access to healthcare, for God to have mercy on this land. Please also pray for the staff and families of the KISC community - both those who are in Nepal and those who are connecting remotely from all parts of the world. I currently have a student in South Korea, two students in the US and the rest in Nepal, while I am in the UK. Finally, please pray for incoming staff for the new academic year. We still have a number of vacancies that it would be great to fill. For more information about KISC, see our website: https://www.kisc.edu.np/
Thank you for your continued love and support - through prayer and through giving. I really, really appreciate you and couldn't do this without you all behind me! I am still very much committed to KISC and Nepal, I am enjoying my new role as an academic leader and it is a privilege to be part of such an incredible international community. If you would like to help support me financially through this time, my account details are here:
Miss H L Stewart
Sort code: 11-08-62
Account number: 00398628
If you would like to send support directly to Nepal you can do so through UMN (United Mission to Nepal) which is an established and well-known charity: I know many people who work for and are connected to UMN. This website will also give you more information about the current situation. Their website is here: https://www.umn.org.np/
I will be on summer break from 4th June and will be based in the Reading/Wokingham area from the 20th June until around the 10th July, and perhaps for longer if I am unable to fly back to Kathmandu imminently. I would love to catch up with you in person, so also do drop me a message and we can arrange to meet.
Thank you again and with much love,
Hannah xx
Commenti