By Clare BruceMonday 27 Apr 2015NewsReading Time: 2 minutes
An Australian aid worker in Nepal is asking for prayers, while aid organisations are calling for financial support, in the aftermath of the weekend’s devastating earthquake and aftershocks.
More than 3200 deaths have been confirmed so far by the earthquake near Kathmandu on Saturday, which reached 7.8 on the Richter scale. A further 6,500 have been injured.
Australian aid worker Matt Darvas, who formerly worked for Compassion Australian in Newcastle, is on the ground in Nepal, heading today for Gorkha, the worst hit area outside of Kathmandu.
“Entire villages have been wiped out,” he reported today on Facebook and Twitter. “One man [said] his village has 1100 households, [of which] 90% were destroyed.”
Aftershocks since the quake have caused not only further deaths, but fear and panic among survivors.
Mr Darvas, who does publicity work for organisations like World Vision, has been recording stories in hospitals, where patients have been afraid to go inside because of the aftershocks.
“One patient gave birth outside,” he tweeted.
He added that the storms each afternoon that close in on the region will make it extremely difficult to access affected villages.
Mr Darvas has asked supporters to pray for safety for him and his family, and to also pray that his news reporting work will help bring support to the many vulnerable people who need it.
Victims of the earthquake include 17 mountaineers who were hit by avalanches on Mt Everest. One of these climbers has been confirmed to be Australian.
Neighbouring regions of India , Bangladesh and China (Tibet) have been affected by the quake, and the extent of the devastation makes this the worst disaster for Nepal in 80 years.
Hope Media is urging listeners to support the Nepalese, Indian and Tibetan communities affected by praying, and by donating to aid organisations including the following:
- CBM: Call 1800 678 069 or go to cbm.org.au
- World Vision: Call 13 32 40 or go to worldvision.com.au
- Caritas: Call 1800 024 413 or go to caritas.org.au/donate/
- Red Cross: Call 1800 811 700 or go online to redcross.org.au
- Plan International: Call 13 75 26 or visit plan.org.au
- UNICEF: Call 1300 884 233 or go to unicef.org.au
- Save The Children: Visit savethechildren.org.au
- Australian Himalayan Foundation: Go to australianhimalayanfoundation.org.au
- OXFAM: Visit oxfam.org.au
- Care Australia: Call 1800 020 046 or visit www.care.org.au/nepal
You can follow Matt Darvas on Twitter for updates, @mdarvas.