One of his first tasks - one which had never previously been undertaken - was to organise a census of the Falasha population. While not claiming that it was complete, it nevertheless gave a more accurate picture than anything hitherto obtained by guesswork. With the help of agents Levy investigated 490 villages and found that they were inhabited by 6,092 Falasha families having a total Falasha population of 28,189. He discovered that most of the villages contained a mixed population, of which the Falashas represented anything from 10 to 50 per cent. Half the Jewish population was represented by children up to eighteen years of age, indicating a very high mortality rate. The census covered a wide area but it almost certainly omitted some remote settlements, more especially as it was undertaken while the state of the country was disturbed and communication was even more difficult than usual. The unsettled conditions impeded the aid programme but a score of primary schools and two health centres, as well as the 8th grade school at Ambober, were kept in operation.

The progress which had been made by the Falasha Welfare Association (F.W.A.) and the recognition of its importance as a means of meeting the threat to the survival of the Falashas had by now drawn the major Jewish body concerned with technical training into the field. In July 1977, after a thorough investigation, the World ORT Union, which has achieved an international reputation for its educational work in many parts of the world, adopted a resolution 'to implement a broad-gauged programme of community development, education, artisanal improvement and related technological advancement' in Ethiopia in conjunction with the American Joint Distribution Committee. The programme, which was designed to benefit all sections of the people while paying special attention to the educational and religious needs of the Jewish population, would be based in the Gondar region to be easily accessible to the Falasha villages.

Building on the foundations laid by the F.W.A. and furnished with adequate resources provided partly by several governments from their overseas aid funds and partly by special contributions to