'We care about each other': Nepal flood brings Ohio Nepali community together for candlelight vigil
Members of Ohio's Nepali community gathered Thursday night for a candlelight vigil honoring the victims of devastating floods in Nepal and supporting families still waiting for news about loved ones.
Inside Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple (Vadtal Dham) — Cleveland in Richmond Heights, candles surrounded Nepal's flag as people prayed, shared their grief, and remembered those killed in the disaster. The Nepali American Organization of Ohio organized the vigil, giving people thousands of miles from home a place to come together as their homeland continues to recover.
Flowers joined the candles as symbols of remembrance.
"Heartfelt thoughts for all the lives that were lost," said a woman who attended the vigil as part of Hindus of North America.
The gathering came about a week after catastrophic flooding swept through the Nepal-China borderlands, killing at least 1,294 people and leaving more than 5,000 missing. The State Department said 75 Americans remain missing.
For people in the Cleveland area, the distance from Nepal does not make the disaster feel distant. Sampurna Shakya, president of the Nepali American Organization of Ohio, said a friend's family member remains among this unaccounted for.
"They went for a regular day commute to their work and they never return back," Shakya said.
That uncertainty shaped the vigil as much as the loss. People prayed together, shared their feelings, and found comfort in simply being surrounded by others who understood what they were going through.
"Actually, at the end of the day, being together with each other and sharing the feelings with each other is like a therapy," Shakya said.
The candles also carried messages of unity for a community mourning from far away.
"That signifies the brotherhood and all the sense of being one," Shakya explained. "Like, you know, fellow countrymen of one country."
Shakya said the vigil reminded the community that people do not have to face that grief alone.
"This moment, while everyone is sad while doing that candlelight vigil, tells you that we care about each other."
