Friends working in Nepal relief efforts have been sending photographer Dean Tatooles images from their cell phones.
WICKER PARK — As another earthquake rocked Nepal on Tuesday, adding to the death and injury tolls from a massive quake just two weeks earlier — a photographer who was in Katmandu when the first quake struck is helping to organize a fundraiser at Cumin, a modern Nepalese and Indian restaurant in Wicker Park.
Set for 6 to 9 p.m. next Tuesday, May 19, at Cumin, 1414 N. Milwaukee Ave., the Nepal Relief Fundraiser dinner will donate 100 percent of proceeds to three aid organizations that are working in small villages most impacted by the quake, said Dean Tatooles, one of the benefit's co-organizers along with Christopher J. Mundy and Alexandra Marie.
Cumin's owners, brothers Rajesh and Sanjeev Karmacharya and several workers at the restaurant have immediate family residing in Nepal. Cumin has been collecting donations since the day after the disaster struck the country.
"My parents live in Katmandu, my mom, 72, and dad, 82, has had some injury, a cut in her hand when she ran, but they are OK," Rajesh Karmacharya said Tuesday. "Their house is fine with glasses broken and cracks in walls. They are scared to go inside because of the aftershocks. Everyone is outside, people are all sleeping outdoors."
The May 19 event will include a live Skype interview with Aaloka Tumbahangphey, who is on the ground in Nepal helping in the rescue and relief efforts and who will be able to give the crowd the current status of global efforts.
Tatooles, a Wicker Park resident, lawyer and professional photographer who leads photo safaris, was in Nepal guiding a group of nine photographers when the earthquake hit on April 27.
Two of Tatooles' photo safari guests were sitting with him on a plane tarmac in Katmandu, preparing to fly to New Dehli, while two other safari members were in Katmandu, where they became stranded for several days, Tatooles said.
"It was a violent shaking and the plane was bouncing; the wings were flapping up and down almost hitting the pavement," Tatooles recalled of the quake's impact felt in the country's capital, about 50 miles northwest from the epicenter of the massive quake, which has claimed over 4,400 lives and also set off avalanches on Mt. Everest, killing 17 climbers.
After being on the tarmac for four hours, the pilot announced that there was a 30-minute window in which to depart and clear the runways for relief helicopters.
"We were airborne before we knew it. When we looked down we could see all of the devastation," Tatooles said.
Tatooles said he has many Nepalese friends that are in contact with him and sending photos of the destruction and rebuilding efforts from their cell phones.
Tickets to the dinner, which includes Nepalese food and refreshments (the menu is being finalized), are $100 each, payable in cash, check or charge card at the door. There will also be a photo raffle, Tatooles said.
Cumin will be open to the general public during the event and all are welcome to donate any amount at a donation box set up at the bar. For more info, visit the event's Facebook page.
Images of Nepal relief efforts [Courtesy of Dean Tatooles]
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