ZAKA Newsletter
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NEWSZAK A December 2013/no 27 MEIR GURVITZ Chairman, ZAKA International Board Of Directors RAFAEL AHARONI President, ZAKA, Hong Kong Macau and China YAACOV PERI Science and Technology Minister Former Chief Rabbi LORD JONATHAN SACKS Patron of British Friends of ZAKA YEHUDA MESHI ZAHAV ZAKA VOLUNTEER ZAKA Chairman and Founder DELIVERS HEALTHY BABY ON GRIDLOCKED SNOW- BOUND HIGHWAY To donate: http://www.zaka.org.uk/Donations.asp Dear Friends of ZAKA, Welcome to another edition of NewsZAKA, bringing you up to date with some of the latest activities in the organization. As 2013 comes to a close, we highlight in this newsletter both the domestic and international aspects of ZAKA's work. In November, with the horrific losses brought by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, ZAKA International sent a delegation of highly-trained and experienced volunteers from Israel and the USA. In December, Jerusalem was hit by a major snowstorm that put the capital under siege for five days. Dozens of ZAKA volunteers worked around the clock, offering assistance to snowbound motorists and residents in a massive operation dubbed Angels in White. In an annual survey to rank Israel's favorite entity by TRI Strategic Research ahead of the Sderot Conference on Social Issues, ZAKA tied for second place with Magen David Adom. The Israel Defense Forces came in first place. We are honored to hold such high respect within Israeli society, which acknowledges the integral role ZAKA's 1500 volunteers play in the country's social fabric. Thank you for your generosity. Secure donations can be made via our websites www.zaka.us (dollars); www.zaka.org.uk (sterling) or www.zaka-fr.org (euros). Please forward this e-newsletter to family and friends. Yehuda Meshi-Zahav ZAKA Chairman www.zaka.org.il Main Office: 234 Jaffo St. P.O. Box 36060 Jerusalem 91360 ISRAEL | Tel. 972-2-5015120 | Fax. 972-2-5015121 Email: [email protected] USA: ZAKA International Friends - 11 Broadway, Suite 1070, New York, NY 10004, Phone 212-643-0600, Fax 212-643-0614 / Email: office@ zaka.org.uk France: 20 bis rue Louis Philippe 92200 Neuilly sur Seine | Tel. 01-74-900-600 | Fax. 01-73-049-207 Email: [email protected] England: 233a Golders Green Road London NW11 9ES Registered Charity No. 1099639 | Tel: 020 8458 5391 Email: [email protected] Canada: 99 Burncrest Drive, Toronto, Ontario M5M 2Z6 Email: [email protected] HK, Macao & China c/o The Jewish Community Centre One Robinson Place 70 Robinson Road Mid Levels Hong Kong E-mail [email protected] NEWSZAK A 2 ZAKA VOLUNTEER DELIVERS HEALTHY BABY ON GRIDLOCKED SNOW- BOUND HIGHWAY After the worst snowstorm in decades in the Jerusalem area, the roads to the capital were finally opened to private vehicles, five days after the first snow fell and in time for the morning commute to work. Inching forward along a gridlocked, snowbound highway (route 443)towards Jerusalem, senior ZAKA paramedic Arele Pamp suddenly heard cries for help from the driver of another car. "I ran to the car with my ZAKA emergency medical kit that I carry with me at all times and found a woman in the advanced stages of labor," explains Pamp. "I asked the driver of a nearby station wagon to make room in the back for the woman to give birth. I called the ZAKA hotline to send an ambulance and then, together with a midwife who also happened to be near the scene, we delivered a healthy baby after only a few minutes. It was a very emotional moment for me when I handed the woman her newborn baby. The mother told me that, when they set out this morning onto a clear road, she never imagined that she would give birth to this, her 14th baby, in the back of a car. Thank God, mother and baby are well and healthy." NEWSZAK A 3 OPERATION ANGELS IN WHITE In mid-December, Jerusalem and its environs experienced the worst snowstorms in decades, besieging the city for five days. During that time, hundreds of ZAKA volunteers worked with the emergency forces to offer assistance to stranded motorists and trapped residents in an operation dubbed "Angels in White". In the days prior to the snowstorm, the ZAKA Operations Center in Jerusalem made essential preparations, bringing into the capital ZAKA SUVs and ATVs from all over the country to augment the ZAKA vehicles at the disposal of the volunteers. Snow chains were fitted to regular vehicles and emergency medical kits were replenished. But, despite the advance preparation and the weather forecast, all of the Jerusalem emergency forces were taken by surprise with the severity of the storm. Hundreds of people - men, women and children - were trapped overnight in their cars on routes 1 and NEWSZAK A 4 443 leading into the city. Working with the Israel Police, the Home Front Command, Magen David Adom and other emergency volunteer services, the ZAKA volunteers launched a rescue operation to bring food and drink to the stranded passengers and to slowly move them into emergency centers opened in Jerusalem, Mevasseret Zion and an army camp on route 443. Under the command of ZAKA special operations commander Haim Outmezgin, more than 60 ZAKA SUVs joined in this massive operation. On the following day (Friday), Operation Angels in White moved into its second phase, as the hundreds of people who had been rescued from their snowbound cars had to be returned to their homes in time for Shabbat. Once again, the ZAKA SUVs, ATVs and Jeep Unit were pressed into action to ferry the people back to their homes. In addition, dozens of ZAKA volunteers in SUVs and ATVs operated around the clock, providing emergency first aid , transferring women in labor, people in need of emergency treatment, dialysis patients and more to hospitals, delivering life-saving medication, and much much more. One of many cases to reach the ZAKA operations center was a call from family members concerned for the health and safety of their 82 year old grandmother who lives alone in the Shaarei Hesed neighborhood and was not answering the phone . ZAKA volunteers rushed to the scene , but could not raise an answer through the locked front door. On receiving an order to break down the door, the ZAKA volunteers entered the apartment to find the old woman lying in bed, suffering from hypothermia , with no electricity and or heating. ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi Zahav: "It was a very complex operation. The ZAKA volunteers once again proved their professionalism and dedication under extremely difficult conditions, working to assist people at their time of need. We will always remember the look of relief and smiles that greeted us when we managed to reach people stranded in their homes and cars." NEWSZAK A 5 THANK YOU FROM THE PHILIPPINES Philippine Ambassador to Israel Mr. Generoso search and recovery experts from Israel and D.G. Calonge visited the ZAKA headquarters in the USA spent several days in November in the Jerusalem and participated in the lighting of the Philippines, offering medical and humanitarian Hanuka candles, together with the members aid and assistance in search and recovery efforts of the ZAKA International delegation that had in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. recently returned from a humanitarian mission assisting in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. A United Nations-recognized international After receiving a briefing from the delegation humanitarian volunteer organization, ZAKA about the scope of their work in the islands, the International coordinated its arrival and recovery Ambassador said : "we thank the State of Israel efforts with the International Federation of and ZAKA International for their fast response to the Red Cross, the IDF delegation and other help people affected by the typhoon. Without international humanitarian organizations doubt, your activities helped save many lives." working in the area. Philippine Ambassador to Israel Mr. Generoso D.G. Calonge assisted in A team of ZAKA International paramedics and connecting the ZAKA International delegation NEWSZAK A 6 with the relevant emergency services on the ground in the Philippines. ZAKA International Chief Officer and head of delegation Mati Goldstein, a veteran of major international disasters, brought his experience to bear by helping the local Red Cross re-allocate relief zones from geographical boundaries to those based on priority of care, level of damage, and need of response. Goldstein notes that "the devastation we have seen here, and the amount of individuals and families displaced from their homes, is difficult to bear, and we are doing all that we can to assess the country's needs and ease the burden. A day after we got here, we went to three islands where no rescue operations had been initiated as of yet; we arrived in a broken raft- like boat and tried helping the injured who were in need of assistance." The ZAKA team took boats to outlying islands that had not yet received assistance, assessed the situation on the ground, and, with the help of the local sheriff, established a base of operations and a makeshift morgue. As a member of the United Nations GDACS (Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System), which is a cooperation framework between the U.N., the European Commission and disaster managers worldwide, ZAKA International has access to a database of vast resources, which allows them to improve alerts, information exchanges and coordination in the first phase of a major natural disaster. Zvi Gluck, Chief of Operations of ZAKA International: "As a humanitarian volunteer organization, ZAKA International is always ready to assist those in need, wherever they are in the world and regardless of religion, race or creed.