Nepal's quake-affected mothers hope life could return to normal soon

While Nepal is desperately coping with the aftermath of the April 25 devastating earthquake with international assistance, Nepalese mothers who have to live in tents with their children in downtown Kathmandu are hoping they could enjoy a normal life as early as possible.

"I hope everything will be normal soon; so we can return to normal life again," Sangita Tamang, a young mother with her one- year-old daughter on her back, said in an interview with Xinhua on Mother's Day.

Tamang, 20, came from outside the Kathmandu valley in Trisuli to join her husband who works in the capital city.

"Now my main home and the rented home (in the city), both have been destroyed and we have no other choice but to stay here," she said, standing in front of her tent on the Tundikhel ground, which used to be a parade ground where important government pronouncements were made.

Tents have now been set up here to accommodate homeless people after the 7.9-magnitude quake. According to the update of the Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs, as of Sunday the quake has left 7,913 people dead and 17,871 others injured.

Currently, more than 400 people live in some 100 tents on the Tundikhel ground with food and water supplied by the army on a daily basis.

Sabina Shrestha, another mother with her two children living here, said she was bathing her six-year-old daughter when the earthquake occurred.

"I have never experienced such a big earth shake in my life," she said, adding, "Life here is difficult, but at least we are safe."

This is the case for all mothers and children now living under tarpaulins on the Tundikhel ground, though most of them say they are worried for their children and do not know where they can take them in the future. Some say that once their husbands find good jobs outside the valley they will move away without delay.

For the 101 children who have lost their parents, they now find mother's love in the Bal Mandir orphanage in Kathmandu.

Everything looked just normal in the orphanage when Xinhua reporters visited there on Saturday.

Indu Katel, chief of the orphanage, said 11 of the orphans are babies sleeping in cradles, the youngest being no more than three months old.

However, overcrowding due to the quake resulted in a lack of space for the children.

"The main problem we are facing is lack of space," Katel said. "There was once sufficient room for children. But now children here don't have enough space for playing, toilets and bathrooms. Also due to the limited space, some are even sleeping outside at night."

"As the building has already been ruined by the earthquake, right now, I can't think more about the orphanage's future," Katel added.

What is encouraging is that there are kind people who offer to donate to help the orphanage.

Xinhua reporters witnessed a young couple coming here with their daughter to send greetings to the orphans.

Katel even dreamed that each child in her orphanage could have a proper and good education in the near future.