The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth are among 15 women religious congregations, most of them based in India, engaged in various ministries in Nepal. They have all survived the quake and have joined relief work.

The communities are: Congregation of Jesus, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Daughters of the Cross of Liege, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM Loreto Sisters), the active and contemplative wings of the Missionaries of Charity, Religious of the Good Shepherd, School Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of Charity of Saint Anne, Sisters of Charity of Saints Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa, Sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred Word, Sisters of Cross of Chavanod, Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, Sisters of St. Paul of Chartres, Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, and Sisters of the Light of the Gospel.

Sr. Lisa Perekkatt is desperate and depressed. The superior of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth convent in Kathmandu is doing what she can to reach out to Nepal’s earthquake victims but has felt handicapped because of local rules and a lack of transportation and relief coordination.

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She and her sisters tried to plunge into relief works a day after the disaster. They contacted Caritas Nepal and some Jesuits to seek ways to reach out to the people.

A spokesperson at the Rome office of Caritas told GSR via email today that Caritas Nepal has been delivering aid since Saturday. So far they have reached 2,000 families and expect to reach another 2,000 within the next 48 hours.

“Caritas staff from Europe, North America [and] India are all there and working. There’s a bureaucratic issue with bringing aid across the border, but that’s pretty normal in these major emergencies,” Patrick Nicholson wrote.

“I feel so miserable and helpless,” Perekkatt told Global Sisters Report over the phone at 10 p.m. on April 29 after a hectic day.

Read the full story of her day in “Sisters of Charity of Nazareth and other communities in Nepal shift to earthquake relief”

Editor’s note: This report was filed from India, where Global Sisters Report has a partnership with Matters India, and where most Catholic sisters’ communities working in Nepal are based.

[Jose Kavi is the editor-in-chief of Matters India, a news portal started in March 2013 to focus on religious and social issues in India. This article is part of a collaboration between GSR and Matters India.]