Free meals offer comfort to Nepal quake victims

Bhaktapur

The arrival twice a day of a white van holding the promise of a hot meal provides rare comfort to thousands of homeless quake victims in the Kathmandu valley.

As volunteers unload huge metal containers from the vehicle, hundreds line up to fill empty bowls with rice, lentils and vegetable curry.

"It is good warm food and they are always on time," said Nuchhe Laxmi Prajapati, a tailor who lost her home and livelihood in the April 25 quake, which killed more than 8,800 people in the Himalayan nation.

"This meal is a relief at a time like this," the 40-year-old told AFP.

Every day, the kitchen is up and running before sunrise, as workers chop potatoes and boil rice to feed some 8,000 people living in camps around the capital after the disaster destroyed more than half a million homes.

The initiative, set up in mid-June by Indian non-profits Jamsetji Tata Trust and Akshaya Patra Foundation, as well as Nepal's Sipradian Sahayata Sanstha, will run for at least six months, organisers say.

The strictly vegetarian menu was designed in consultation with Nepalese staff and accommodates locals' preference for rice over other grains.

To that effect, the 2,500 square foot (230 square metre) temporary kitchen is equipped with three 600-litre capacity cauldrons to boil rice as well as machines to grind spices and cut massive quantities of vegetables.