(ANS – Kathmandu)– There was a meeting at Don Bosco, Thecho, Nepal, the evening of 15 June 2015. Those present were the five Salesians involved in the post-earthquake work in Nepal under the leadership of Fr. Jijo John, Fr. Vincent, the economer of INC province, and Fr. M.C. George, director of BOSCONET in New Delhi. Some of the things we discussed and agreed upon are the following:

1.   17,000 families received aid from Don Bosco at the relief stage, in the form of food, medicines and/or material for temporary shelter – polythene sheets, tarpaulins or CGI sheets. This sort of emergency aid will not be given out any more except in special, exceptional cases.

2.   Everything will be done following very strictly the procedures determined by the government, with official permissions from the government, approval of building plans and rules on the use of money and materials as required by the government, no matter how slow or confusing, at times, they may appear to be. There will be full admission to the donor that no double-financing takes place.

3.   An over-all master plan or project will be set for those asking for it, to which they may contribute a share. Separate small proposals for a specific activity of the donor’s own choice will also be prepared for those asking for it.

4.   No AFFECTED children within our knowledge or reach should drop out of school because of the lack of textbooks, uniforms, mid-day meals, etc. Salesians could help with school fees, too, as and when required by following the precautions.

5.   Some amount will be spent on rebuilding houses. The first preference will be given to our own students and staff who lost their homes or whose houses are so damaged that they are no longer safe. Preference will also be given to the families of our own district – Lalitpur – as charity begins at home, and to create an even more congenial and friendly atmosphere among the people who are in our own neighbourhood.

6.   As and when necessary, Salesians may help people who have long-term medical needs as a consequence of this earthquake. This is NOT a first priority of Salesians in normal circumstances, but in this special situation, and if no assistance is forthcoming from elsewhere, Salesians may pay for necessary surgical interventions, wheel chairs, artificial limbs, etc.

7.   Salesians will concentrate on children, youth and education. Hence the maximum allotment of the funds will be used for rebuilding classrooms and schools. In our own district of Lalitpur, some schools have lost only SOME classrooms. Salesian will rebuild these.

8.   Salesians are compelled to prioritize the larger schools, meaning schools that have a larger number of students so that have a larger number of beneficiaries from the service they render.

9.   Salesians will aim at the reconstruction of at least 40 schools (60, if we find enough funds for that). They plan to complete all the schools within four to six months after the end of the Monsoons. Hence the target is to form 10 “teams” of personnel, each of which will complete four to six schools.

10.  Each village will be asked to form a school-reconstruction committee. This committee will mobilize the villagers to contribute as much as possible in cash, locally available materials, and in labour.

11.  Salesians don’t wish only to rebuild the physical structures; they try to obtain permissions from the ministry and from the District Education Officers to have orientation programmes for teachers; and to get permissions for helping students directly through therapy for dealing with trauma.

12.  Several NGOs have asked for help to train the young men and women with the skills needed to do reconstruction. We will use our technical school at Thecho to train them.

13.   Salesians will study with the local people training schemes towards job-skills, employment generation, income generation and long-term rehabilitation in every sense.

14.  Salesians will collaborate with the government as well as with other religious groups, but not stealing credit for what they are doing, nor competing or rivalling or duplicating their work.

15.   Fr. Jijo John will lead the reconstruction work, as he did the relief work, while continuing to head the technical institute at Thecho.

16.  Salesians will “adopt” a small village of about 40 families and try to develop it into a “model village”.

Published 26/06/2015