Israeli Aid in Nepal Before, During and After the Earthquake

April 30, 2015

4 min read

Most of the world woke up on Saturday to the news of a devastating earthquake in Nepal that has now claimed the lives of over 5,000 people. While Nepal is in need of dire assistance following these tragic events, the fact is that Nepal has been in need of assistance for many years.

While thousands of aid workers from all over the world prepare to head to Nepal, and hundreds if not thousands of fundraising campaigns have sprung up across the globe, Israel was the first responder.

Nepal is listed as the 30th poorest nation on the planet, with over 30 percent of the population subsisting on less than $14 dollars per day. In large swaths of the country over 46 percent of the people live well below the poverty line. That is the Nepalese poverty line, which is far lower than the US, Canadian or Israeli poverty line.

According to the Rural Poverty Portal website: “Over 80 percent of the population live in rural areas and depend on subsistence farming for their livelihoods. Household food insecurity and poor nutrition are major concerns in these areas, where about half of children under five years of age are undernourished. Most rural households have little or no access to primary health care, education, safe drinking water, sanitation or other basic services.”

If this is life in Nepal when there is no immediate crisis, imagine how much more dire the situation is today.

Houses destroyed in Mahadev Bessi in the earthquake. (Photo: Tevel b'Tzedek)
Houses destroyed in Mahadev Bessi in the earthquake. (Photo: Tevel b’Tzedek)
Houses destroyed in Mahadev Bessi in the earthquake. (Photo: Tevel b'Tzedek)
Houses destroyed in Mahadev Bessi in the earthquake. (Photo: Tevel b’Tzedek)

For the past eight years, an Israeli organization by the name of Tevel b’Tzedek has been working in various communities in Nepal, including slum neighborhoods in Kathmandu, poor rural villages such as Mahadev Bessi and Rani Mala, as well as other poor districts such as Kadri and Ramechhap.

When it came to the government organizing the Israeli humanitarian mission to Nepal following the earthquake, it was because of the Tevel b’Tzedek team already on the ground in the area that the Israeli delegation was able to quickly and efficiently come to the country’s aid.

The organization, whose name means “The World in Righteousness,”’ employs 55 Nepali staff members and boasts 7 Israeli staff and 40 Israeli and international volunteers in the country year round. It has made a huge impact in the impoverished country and has changed the lives of some of the poorer neighborhoods in the country.

Working closely together with the Israeli Embassy in Kathmandu, Tevel b’Tzedek has helped to generate a very positive outlook on Israelis among the Nepali people, thus enabling the organization to help facilitate a quick response to this crisis. This past week, the organization’s staff and volunteers were in full out disaster relief mode. Tevel b’Tzedek is working as a facilitator for the many Israeli aid groups that are flying to Nepal, including Magen David Adom, IsraAid, United Hatzalah, and others.

Just a day and a half after the earthquake, Tevel b’Tzedek raised over $60,000 dollars in relief funds and has been sending additional Israeli staff to the country to coordinate relief efforts. Along with the IDF delegation and members of the Israeli Embassy, the organization has been instrumental in helping to locate and identify stranded Israelis across the country, and has been busily finding shelter, drinking water, and food for those who were left destitute by the quake.

Houses destroyed in Mahadev Bessi in the earthquake. (Photo: Tevel b'Tzedek)
Houses destroyed in Mahadev Bessi in the earthquake. (Photo: Tevel b’Tzedek)
(Photo: Tevel b'Tzedek)
(Photo: Tevel b’Tzedek)

“We are in a unique position to help, because we have so many staff who know Kathmandu really well and who speak Nepali,” said Micha Odenheimer, the Director of Tevel b’Tzedek, to Breaking Israel News.

The Tevel b’Tzedek volunteers, most of whom have just finished their military service and are in their early twenties, are standing tall amid the carnage around them. With not even one volunteer requesting to return to Israel, every single one of them has elected to stay in Nepal and continue their efforts to help another country, another people, another culture, in order to make the world a better place.

A house damaged in the earthquake that ravaged Nepal in the village of Manegau, where Israeli volunteers are working with Tevel B‘Tzedek. (Photo: Tevel b'Tzedek)
A house damaged in the earthquake that ravaged Nepal in the village of Manegau, where Israeli volunteers are working with Tevel B‘Tzedek. (Photo: Tevel b’Tzedek)

Tevel b’Tzedek volunteers in the village of Manegau, a village that was almost completely destroyed by the earthquake and is in one of the areas hardest hit by the quake, seemed optimistic in a video that they sent back to Israel. In the video, which is entirely in Hebrew, the volunteers explained that most of the houses in the villages were wiped out.

“People lost their entire livelihood and all their belonging,” they said. “We hope that we can encourage people all over the world to take action and donate money, or supplies to the people who live here. We are planning to stay and help out whomever is in need.”

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