11.16.22

Help Nepal’s Poor Survive a Bleak Winter

  News

In Nepal, winter marks a season of further suffering within a country with low economic prospects, hard-to-reach areas, natural disasters and severe underemployment.

Of the people living in Nepal, 25 per cent are living below the poverty line. High food prices, earthquakes, unemployment and limited access to resources have left around 5 million people in Nepal undernourished and devastated. People are out of homes, children are dying and women are becoming more vulnerable to gender-based crimes.

During winter, the effects of Nepal’s poor economy are especially pronounced. Nepal’s poor struggle with limited resources to survive the cold and hardly any access to health care. Their children often miss school because they don’t have proper warm clothes, leaving them vulnerable to serious cold weather-related illnesses. As a result, each year, these poor families in Nepal are unable to meet their basic needs nor protect their children and elderly from the elements.

Emergency aid is essential to their survival

Thanks to the generosity and kindness of our supporters, Islamic Relief is delivering vital items to 455,000 vulnerable people to help them survive the harsh winter weather. Among them are people like Suggani Nesha, 73, who faces a bleak winter in Nepal.

“My husband and I get some money from the social security fund from the government which helps us survive,” says Suggani. “We also work as labourers to earn money when we can.

“We own a small piece of land near a riverbank, but we are unable to grow crops as flooding destroys our crops during the rainy season. We don’t have a proper home, we live in a hut which cannot protect us from the cold, wind, or rain.”

Photo: Poor families in Nepal like Suggani’s struggle and are in desperate need of international aid during the cold winter months.

The older couple’s lives become even more difficult when temperatures plummet in winter.

“During the winter our life gets very hard due to the extreme cold. We cannot wake up early and work outside. We spend time in our hut, we light a fire in the nearby field to help warm our bodies. As we have grown old the winters have become hard for us. Winter is an enemy for people in their old age like us: we get sick, and our lives become more painful than normal.”

“Winter has become our enemy, but Islamic Relief is our friend”

The winter survival items the couple received from Islamic Relief last year made a big difference, Suggani says.

“The support we got from Islamic Relief helps poor people like us. We would not be able to afford such good quality winter kit, we can now have warm water and sleep in a warm bed. I would like to say thanks to all the people supporting us.”

This winter, more people than ever before are in desperate need. Islamic Relief is working tirelessly to ease their suffering by distributing vital winter survival items to vulnerable families in 17 countries.

Help people like Suggani survive this cold winter season

The changing of the seasons can be challenging for all of us, especially the most vulnerable among us. With energy and food prices rocketing, more and more people have been pushed into poverty.

The United Nations has estimated that, since the pandemic, an additional 75 million people may have been pushed into living in extreme poverty by the end of the year. The overall number of people living in extreme poverty could reach 800 million this year. For these people, winter’s plummeting temperatures and harsh weather mean an ever-greater struggle for survival.

However, there is hope. Last year, through your generous support, Islamic Relief provided winter kits to more than 435,000 people in 17 countries. Kits contain vital survival items such as warm clothes, blankets, and heaters. Support and donate to the winter appeal to help vulnerable families stay warm as they make their way through harsh winter months.

Help us save lives from the harsh Winter cold

This winter, you can be a lifeline for vulnerable families. By giving to our Winter Appeal, you are helping people in countries like Nepal pushed to the brink of survival. Please donate today.


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