Islandmagee granny’s family to build Nepal homes for earthquake survivors

Jane Prendy’s 77-year-old mother Marita was working at the Druk Amitabha Mountain DGK nunnery outside Kathmandhu when the first earthquake struck on Saturday April 25.

Marita then spent two weeks sleeping in a tent on the mountainside at the nunnery before finally arriving home safely at Heathrow airport on May 9.

A relieved Jane told the Times: “We managed to get a message to her to tell her her flight had changed, but we didn’t know that she would be on it.

“We are so relieved and grateful to have her back, especially after the second earthquake struck.

“My brother-in-law and nephew went to collect her from the airport and when she appeared it was a massive relief to everybody.

“We have had messages of support from friends not only in Islandmagee but around the world, including Australia and New Zealand.”

Marita has been spent six months a year in Nepal for the past decade.

The nunnery is the site of a popular Buddhist temple, and Marita helps the nuns by teaching them English, gardening and mural painting.

Jane says that Marita, who is currently staying with her sister Lisa in Oxford, was unaware of the full impact of the earthquake, which killed 8,500 people.

She explained: “Mum was in a bubble. When the earthquake hit she was at the zoo and the monkeys were going crazy and she had to grab hold of the bars at the enclosure.