Around the World in 48 Hours: Israel to Haiti

At our recent event Israel to Haiti: Around the World in 48 Hours, doctors and dentists of our Maimonides Society listened intently as Ambassador Danny Biran from the Israel Consulate in New York shared his personal experience leading the Israeli advance team in Haiti.

It took the Israeli Defense Force eight hours between landing in Haiti with 75 tons of equipment and treating their first patient at the only functioning field hospital in the earthquake-ravaged city of Port-au-Prince. With logistics and space needed for hundreds of patients and their families, doctors, nurses, engineers and security forces, this was no small feat.

During the IDF's 21-day humanitarian and medical mission, they rescued 4 survivors from the rubble, treated 1,100 patients, performed 370 life-saving surgeries, and carried out 16 emergency deliveries.

Ambassador Biran only partly joked that their field hospital and mess tent "quickly became the best hotel and restaurant in the area." Each day, they were feeding 1,500 patients and family members.

"Most of them had no homes to go back to. How could we turn anyone away? It's not who we are," he explained.

"Israel is always ready to respond quickly, because that is how we must live our lives," Biran continued. "Disaster is often right around the corner and they are accustomed to moving quickly when it strikes."

Israel didn't act alone; they relied on the world-wide Jewish community for support. A Jewish family who owned the land the hospital was set-up on welcomed them for as long as they needed to be there. Members of the New York Jewish community donated the kosher food they needed to serve the 230 engineers, doctors and nurses who volunteered for this mission. Moreover, much of the funding to enable this miraculous effort—and the seamless handover to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee who is in Haiti for the long-term recovery—was donated by an extended network of Jewish communities.

The Jewish spirit and community were there for so many in Haiti because tikkun olam... repairing the world is our very core. And, this is why the Jewish Federation exists, so that like Israel, we can respond quickly to the needs of our community.

To view pictures from this event, please visit us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JewishInSeattle