Israeli aid group building shelters for victims of Italy quake

IsraAID, the Israeli NGO dedicated to helping victims of natural disasters around the world, is aiding victims of last week’s deadly earthquake in Italy by building temporary shelter camps, distributing food and nonfood items, and providing grief counseling to families that lost relatives as well as to the Italian rescue teams, which suffer from burnout and acute stress.

A team of 20 volunteers is currently in the country, the first of whom arrived 24 hours after Wednesday’s earthquake in which nearly 300 people were killed.

IsraAID team member Mickey Noam Alon described how his team helped Gabriele Gabiza, an 82-year-old man from the town of Scai whose house was destroyed.

“Like hundreds of others, Gabiza was left stranded in the middle of the night, without shelter or a safe roof over his head. After hours of wandering through what remained of the streets, Gabiza headed to one of the community shelters that was erected within 24 hours of the quake. When I met him, he was clearly exhausted, shocked and confused…. Immediately an IsraAID team member helped him to find a place to sit, offered him a warm blanket and some water.”

At least 80 residents are now seeking safety in the community shelter, IsraAID says.