“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) set up a field hospital in the Philippines last Wednesday after Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the Philippines, killing 3,982; injuring 18,175; and displacing four million others, leaving them without food, shelter and water.
As well, 1,602 are still missing.
The remains of a home destroyed by the storm in Tacloban City.
Since Friday, the field hospital has been treating 300 patients a day, including patients with advanced-stage cancer.
The six Israeli medical and logistics experts already on the ground were joined by 148 Israeli doctors, nurses, lab technicians, soldiers and search-and-rescue workers. (IDF)
“Our first full day started early and we immediately began to unload all of the medical supplies that had arrived. The amount was staggering—wheelchairs, ultrasounds, diapers, medication and even refrigerators,” said one IDF soldier.
IDF doctors pose with the first baby boy delivered by members of the IDF mission. The mother named the newborn “Israel.”
IDF doctors pose with the first baby boy delivered by members of the IDF mission. The mother named the newborn “Israel.”
Israel selected Cebu Island’s Bogo City for the hospital location “because they were poor and their needs were great,” the IDF Surgeon General explained. (NBC)
Since being established, at least 12 premature babies were delivered over four days at the field hospital, which is caring for them in IDF incubators that were shipped among 100 tons of humanitarian aid and medical supplies.
The IDF hospital has multiple departments that provide such things as X-ray and eye-exam services, ambulatory care and general needs.
A Filipino woman receives an eye exam in the IDF’s field hospital in Bogo City.
Other Israeli and Jewish aid organizations are active in the Philippine archipelago as well.
The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid (IsraAID) sent seven medical professionals to Tacloban City and will be bringing in additional trauma personnel and child-protection specialists.
“After the immediate medical issues are addressed, the next concerns are issues like the influx of people who have become homeless,” said Shahar Zahavi, founding director of IsraAID. “And in the days after, people start getting sick, and then there’s not enough food to go around. So the needs change as the process unfolds.” (JPost)
Debris lines the streets of Tacloban, Leyte Island. This region was the worst affected by the typhoon, causing widespread damage and loss of life.
The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is also shipping food, shelter, hygiene and medical supplies and will invest in local projects that will emerge during the recovery process.
“JDC and the State of Israel are proudly at the forefront of that response, ever mindful of our moral obligation to save those in danger. Additionally, JDC is driven by the debt of gratitude we owe to the Philippines which heroically saved more than 1,000 Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis during World War II,” JDC CEO Alan H. Gill said. (Algemeiner)
A woman in Guiuan stands outside of her makeshift shack in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.
“Words cannot describe how much we appreciate the aid of the Israeli nation,” Philippine Ambassador Generoso D.G. Calogne said on Sunday.
“It’s a sorrowful event, but we’re overjoyed and overwhelmed by Israel’s help.”
On Monday, 21 Boys Town Jerusalem eighth-grade students packed 25 boxes with relief supplies donated by the school for the Philippines.
The boys received a helping hand from Ambassador Calogne as they filled the boxes with basic necessities, such as ready-to-eat food, blankets, and pillows.
A Tel Aviv shipping company will deliver the boxes free of charge.
“I want to express the heartfelt gratitude of the Filipino people and government for this outpouring of good will and compassion,” Calogne said. (JPost)
IDF pediatric specialist, Col. Dr. Albukirk, speaks with a Filipino mother in the field hospital in Bogo.
The world is being shaken in these last days.
“Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.” (Hebrews 12:28)
