IMPHAL, May 21: The Disaster Relief Committee Manipur (DRCM) has said that the committee in cooperation with National Youth Forces (Rastriya Yuba Dasta) of National Movement of Indigenous Peoples (Adibashi Janajati Rastriya Andolan, Nepal) led by Padma Ratna Tuladhar, a joint 13 member team of healthcare experts, volunteers and media persons led by Dr. Debabrata Roy Laifungbam of the committee has conducted relief camps from May 13 to 17 with the objectives of providing the earthquakes victims of Nepal with an emergency relief support.
According to a release of the DRCM, the team visited the earthquake affected areas of Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts of north central Nepal at the advice of NAMIP including devastated areas of Kathmandu and Bhaktapur a as well as Trauma Centre at Bir Hospital and organised briefing meetings with Red Cross Society of Nepal and the leaders of indigenous peoples of Nepal.
From May 15, the team visited Archali and Thulogaon villages of Rasuwa district and Kaule village of Nuwakot district and provided medical as well as non-medical supports. The team conducted full day medical camps in the villages and gave medical assistance to over 500 patients/casualties. Free medicines as well as non-medical items were also distributed to them and their families in the villages, it said.
The Manipur Relief team in association with the Indian Red Cross Society, Manipur State Branch (IRCS) has also donated Rs.3,00,000/- to the Red Cross Society of Nepal.
The population in the villages, consisting mainly of Gurung and Tamang communities is major victims of the recent Great Himalayan earthquake and they have been deprived of proper food and shelter and acutely vulnerable. The government relief support is yet to reach them and they continue to be acute post-earthquake trauma. The people are suffering from high anxiety, fear, sleep disturbances, intrusive memories, grief and a loss of hope for the future. The team plans to return soon to Nepal to conduct training programmes on psycho-social healing for survivors of trauma and designing to construct earthquake resistant housings using indigenous knowledge and technology and construction materials available in rural areas of Nepal. The DRCM team returned to Imphal on May 20 after completing voluntary services, it said.
The committee is planning to have a 10 days training on Psychosocial Support for health workers based in 14 earthquake worst hit districts of Nepal from June 29 to July 8, it said.