... the initial phase, the team will focus on identifying victims' needs to ensure that the aid from donors are delivered effectively...
Bandung, West Java - Bandung, as the capital city of solidarity of the Asian-African region, will send a solidarity team to Nepal dubbed #FromBandungToNepal to identify the needs of victims of the earthquake in the country.

"The team will depart today from Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung," spokesperson for the Kolaboraksi Sinergi for Solidarity, Hani Sumarno, said here on Wednesday.

The team will send a volunteer of the Asian-African Conference (AAC), Muhammad Rizki, who will be in Nepal for a week.

"During the initial phase, the team will focus on identifying victims' needs to ensure that the aid from donors are delivered effectively," Sumarno stated.

The team was established as a result of the collaborative efforts of a few communities, such as the Sinergi Foundation, the Bandung Clean Action, AAC Volunteers, #AACarnival 2015, as well as some donors of Sinergi for Solidarity.

As much as Rp60million (some US$4,600) has been collected as donation for the Sinergi for Solidarity program for Nepal.

The donation for the mission is managed by the Sinergi Foundation. Moreover, AAC volunteer Muhammad Rizki is very proud of being given the task.

"I am very proud. It is remarkable that the enthusiasm of the people of Bandung can bring together the #FromBandungToNepal movement," Rizki remarked.

A powerful earthquake struck Nepal and sent tremors through northern India on Saturday, April 25, killing thousands of people and toppling a tower from the 19th century in the capital city of Kathmandu.

There were reports of devastation in outlying, isolated mountainous areas following the midday quake of magnitude 7.9 Richter scale, Nepal's worst in 81 years, centered 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of the second city, Pokhara.

Nepal's most deadly quake in 81 years also triggered a massive avalanche on Mount Everest that killed at least 17 climbers and guides, including four foreigners, the worst single disaster on the world's highest peak.

The death toll from Nepal's devastating earthquake could reach 10,000, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala said on Tuesday, as residents, frustrated by the government's slow response, used their bare hands to dig for signs of their loved ones.

Furthermore, the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs will send 150 members of the Disaster Response Team (Tagana) to help with the humanitarian mission in quake-hit Nepal.

"We offer our deepest condolences to the victims of the earthquake in Nepal and are preparing 150 Tagana personnel, who are ready to depart (for Nepal) any time," Minister of Social Affairs Khofifah Indar Parawansa affirmed on Monday.

She noted that the ministry is also preparing aid packages, including blankets, clothes and foods, for the victims of the disastrous earthquake.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
Copyright © ANTARA 2015