South Korea has joined hands with the U.N. and other international organizations to launch a table tennis project for people with disabilities in Nepal, as part of efforts to support the South Asian country in the aftermath of a massive earthquake last year.

Dozens of senior diplomats, officials from the involved institutions and Nepalese citizens gathered for the launching ceremony of the “NepAll” initiative in Kathmandu on April 6, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Monday. 
Under the $150,000 plan, some 400 people with disabilities are expected to take part in table tennis training across six locations in the country over the next three years. The Korean government pledged $120,000, while the International Table Tennis Federation contributed the remainder. The money will go to running the classes and repairing sports facilities ravaged by the earthquake, among other activities

The program will be run by the U.N. Office on Sports for Development and Peace, the ministry said.

Last April’s 7.8-magnitude quake and its aftershocks killed more than 8,000 and injured another 21,000.

“Despite the prevalent post-earthquake gloom across the country, I felt rewarded seeing the participants brightly smiling at the opening ceremony,” said Ma Young-sam, Korea’s ambassador to Denmark, who is also a certified international table tennis referee and currently cochairs the U.N.’s International Working Group on Sport and Persons with Disabilities.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)