(ANS - Rome) - "We are struck by so much death and so much suffering! We want to be close to the people of Nepal, to share their suffering as much as possible." So says Fr Vincent Mondal SDB, Provincial Economer of the Province of Calcutta to which the Salesian mission in Nepal belongs. He was speaking yesterday to the editor of ANS.

by Gian Francesco Romano

Fr Mondal knows Nepal very well, having been in charge of the Salesian mission in the country from 1999 to 2010. "It is a small country, surrounded by two great powers - India to the south and China to the north - and the Himalayas. The people are very simple, peaceful, hospitable, and they do not need much to be happy." But it is also a poor country and institutionally weak. "Even before the earthquake it was one of the poorest countries in the world, with a very limited economy, depending directly on agriculture and tourism… and international aid. At present it is a republic, but this was proclaimed only a few years and there is still no definitive Constitution."

Over the years Fr Mondal has seen the Salesian presence consolidate and grow in popularity and appreciation: "When I arrived, the Salesians were present only in the east. All we had in Kathmandu was some land. Now there are three secondary schools with lessons in English, and one with lessons in Nepali, plus a vocational school and craft school in another building. (...) The population has a large Hindu majority. Catholics are only 0.2% of the population, but in our institutions we make no distinction based on the religion of the students. Both the people and the authorities realize that we are there to serve, not to proselytize."

The first recipients of our work are always young people in need. Fr Mondal says, "the academic school in Kathmandu is also a boarding school, since most of the students came from the mountain villages and stay with us all the time, going home for a visit once a year, a journey that takes up to five days”.

The earthquake that devastated the country has done serious damage to the Salesian schools, especially those in the Kathmandu Valley, close to the epicentre. "When we built our works I expressly asked the engineers and architects to build a structure that would withstand an earthquake up to 9.0. Nepal is directly above a fault line, and people knew that an earthquake like this would come sooner or later, but most of the buildings were old, even centuries old."

This attention to the people of Nepal continues today in tireless service to the people most affected by the earthquake. Many members of the Salesian Family are actively involved.  This commitment will continue in the future: "We want to help the young people in our schools and so relieve families of a liability. So, with the funds received from abroad we plan to offer at least one or two years free of charge to the students who have lost everything. It is one way to alleviate their suffering."

Just today, 8 May, the Salesian community in Nepal has announced that, in accordance with directives issued by the Government, the Salesian schools will be reopened as of 15 May.

The Italian Salesian Bulletin wrote on the work of Fr Mondal in Nepal in its issue of 2011, June.

Published on 08/05/2015