Responding to the second earthquake to hit Nepal in recent weeks, Israeli teams are continuing to provide relief.
Nepal was struck by yet another earthquake on Tuesday, and IsraAID’s emergency response team is on the ground monitoring the situation in vulnerable areas. The relief mission has been operating in devastated Nepal since the previous recent natural disaster that hit the poor country.
“Phone networks are down, everyone is outside and afraid to come in” reported Yotam Polizer, IsraAID’s head of mission on the ground in Nepal. “I am worried for vulnerable neighborhoods like Gongabu, where our search and rescue team rescued Krishnadevi last week. The houses there are not sturdy, and many were damaged by the earthquake. We are on the way there now.”
The IsraAID team built a temporary neonatal nursery in Kathmandu that helped save four children, and three more were treated in the rural areas.
IsraAID, an Israeli NGO committed to providing life-saving disaster relief and long-term support to persons in need around the globe, has medical and psychosocial teams on the ground in Nepal, as well as distribution of goods, and will continue to coordinate with the Nepalese government, UN agencies, and NGOs to respond to any and all new developments.
The closing ceremony of IDF humanitarian mission in Nepal. (IDF)
A week earlier, IsraAID’s medical team set out for the remote mountain villages in northeastern Nepal, along with a team of Nepali doctors and nurses from Kathmandu. After a seven hour drive from Kathmandu and a three hour walk, the team arrived in Tar village and in less than an hour set up their mobile clinic. The IsraAID team was the first medical team to arrive, and treated 122 people including six severe orthopedic cases.
IsraAID plans to remain in Nepal for at least a year, focusing on trauma therapy, using art, drama, and other methods to help children deal with the emotional side of this disaster.
The IDF rescue team and field hospital returned to Israel from Nepal just a day before the second earthquake, and Israeli authorities are in the process of sending out a second wave of aid to ravaged region.
By: United with Israel Staff