LIMERICK man David Dalton, who is CEO of international charity Plan Ireland, says that rebuilding the 350,000 buildings destroyed in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake “will take years”.
The Raheen native is appealing to people in Limerick and Ireland to support the charity’s relief efforts in Nepal, following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake on April 25 that has killed an estimated 7,500 people.
“We have 250 Nepalese staff there, thankfully all 250 of them are ok; we’ve been very lucky. At the moment the main focus is on providing people with shelter. Approximately 350,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed so people are literally in the streets.
“We’re also facing into the Monsoon season in about six weeks, so getting people at least covered is a huge priority. The rebuilding operation will take years, so at the moment a lot of our work is on providing tents and shelters,” Mr Dalton told the Limerick Post.
He explained that the charity is also working to provide people in the affected areas with adequate water and sanitation, and hot food and cooking facilities.
Mr Dalton added that the main focus of the charity’s work is on children, including child protection, and the Nepalese team is assisting in the reunification of families and protecting children from the ongoing problem of child trafficking in Northern India and Nepal.
Plan International is also trying to provide children in the affected areas with some normality by opening up schools.
“All of the schools in Nepal will be closed until May 15, but in the affected areas the schools have been destroyed. We’re trying to open up educational spaces to get the children back learning, get them back into a routine and spending time with their friends. This is very important as if children miss out on a year of education it can have a detrimental effect,” Mr Dalton said.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can go to www.plan.ie, or Freephone 1800 829 829.
