Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - After eight years of absence, a US-based Christian charity came back to Nepal as part of US Peace Corps' Operation Pacific Angel. Its work focuses mainly on health, sanitation and food safety.
The first 20 volunteers arrived in Kathmandu on 9 September. In one week, they helped 4,195 Nepali villagers.
With the help of Nepali soldiers and volunteers, the foreign volunteers provided free medical assistance in paediatrics, optometry, physiotherapy, public health infection control, food safety, women's health and pre-post partum nutrition care.
The Peace Corps Volunteer programme was launched in 1961 during the President John F. Kennedy. It withdrew from Nepal in 2004 because of threats caused by the Maoist insurgency in Nepal.
Despite the start of the peace process in 2006, the Peace Corps was not able to return until this year, when the Maoist-led government provided assurances that security would be guaranteed.
The volunteers were able to perform their work thanks to a combined team of over 200 Nepal Army, US Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, and Mongolian Armed Forces members.
"These efforts are a visible expression of our combined commitment to peace and stability in this region with the desire to strengthen the relationship between our countries and our continuing resolve to ensure increased humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in this region," said Lieutenant General Bhusan Chand of the Nepal Army.