Coventry charity upscales operations to feed 1,000 people a day in Nepal

Coventry charity Feed the Hungry has upscaled its operations to feed over 1,000 people a day after the flash floods that hit Nepal in late August.

Founded in Coventry in 2005, Feed the Hungry has been supporting families facing hunger in the Midlands as well as supporting disaster relief internationally and currently feeds over 645,000 children around the world in 29 countries.

It has been providing aid in Nepal prior to the flash floods this summer. For years it has supported the ‘Musahar’ or ‘Rat Catcher’ tribes in Nepal.

On August 26th, the Tibet border area of Nepal was devastated by flash floods. The death toll has since risen to 1,356 and nearly 4,900 people are still recorded as missing.

Since late August, the charity has significantly increased its work in the country by setting up a food kitchen that feeds 1,000 people a day

Pastor Ruben Rasali, who is leading the aid mission on the ground in Nepal, has told the BBC that he has been receiving calls from people begging for help, with one man telling Rasali that he wished he had died in the floods.

“I said ‘why?’, and the man replied ‘because any how we are going to die, because nobody cares for us. We don’t have food to eat. We are starving.’”

With 84% of these tribes facing moderate to extreme food insecurity, Feed the Hungry has worked with Pastor Rasali to provide food and support Rasali’s school for the children of these tribes.

Since late August, the charity has significantly increased its work in the country by setting up a food kitchen that feeds 1,000 people a day.

Speaking on his motivations, Rasali said: “We felt we have to have the feeding centre because nobody has the cooking utensils, so if we provided them emergency aid like rice, and food items, they don’t have anything to cook with.”

However, providing this aid has not been without difficulty for both Feed the Hungry and the volunteers.

One of the charity’s trucks took over 8 hours to travel just 40km and Pastor Rasali has emphasised how painful the work has been on his volunteers: “Still everyday the helicopter goes, they are bringing the dead bodies, and they are bringing the injured people. News are silent, but the death rate is growing day by day.”