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Sean Penn to visit Israel
Renowned actor, director will make first ever trip to Holy Land to launch global aid collaboration efforts with Israeli aid organizations
In a meeting held last week in Los Angeles between Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Sean Penn it was agreed that the State of Israel would collaborate with the American actor and director in aid efforts at disaster zones across the globe.
Penn stands at the head of a humanitarian association that offers aid to victims of the Haiti earthquake as well as other disasters around the world. Penn resides in Haiti for four months of the year offering aid to the locals who are still affected by the earthquake.
It was in Haiti that Penn became familiar with Israeli aid officials who still operate in Haiti to this day.
In the meeting with Penn, Ayalon invited the renowned actor to visit Israel. Penn accepted the invitation and it was decided that during his trip he would make a visit to MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation and to Magen David Adom and would examine how best to collaborate with Israeli aid organizations. At first cooperation would focus on Haiti, but would then expand to other countries.
The visit will take place in a few months and according to Penn, will be his first to the Holy Land, in spite of the fact that his father is Jewish and would be happy to cooperate with Israel on humanitarian aid efforts.
Speaking to Ayalon Penn praised Israel and said that in Haiti Israel demonstrated amazing capabilities and was the first country at the scene of the disaster working with a great deal of efficiency.
Penn ran a refugee camp in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital where tens of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed were cared for. He operated medical teams, established schools and raised funds for the quake hit Island. Among his partners were Israeli aid groups IsraAid and PRODEB.
Penn said in the past that what the Israelis brought to Haiti was something that the US should take lessons from. He noted that national service should be obligatory in the US, not specifically military service but organized voluntary work.
Penn added that that kind of work gives people character and discipline. He said that Israelis were an inspiration to him and asked: Why should Israelis have to be the ones to come to Haiti when there is so much to do in Israel.
Source: Ynetnews.com
US, Israel sign MOU on agro aid to Africa
Israeli, American development agencies pledge to expand agricultural collaboration, food aid to Africa
Israel and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to increase cooperation on food aid to Africa, Ynet has learned.
The memorandum, signed last week between USAID and the Israel Agency for International Development Cooperation (Mashav), which operates by proxy of the Foreign Ministry, is the first of its kind.
Mashav Director Daniel Carmon described the MOU by saying: “This agreement is not the start of the relationship; it’s the continuing and the strengthening of the relationship.”
Both Israel and the US have a long history of providing aid of various natures to Africa and the current agreement aims to address the issue of food security in four countries: Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda.
According to Carmon, the future aid package “will include assistance in help food production and crop cycles, as well as address various environmental issues that go beyond the agricultural sector.”
Carmon noted that “increasing cooperation with USAID is not only the right thing to do but the smart thing to do.”
The memorandum was signed in Washington. Carmon’s statement to the press after the ceremony.
Source: Ynetnews.com
Angel of Africa: Israeli doctor helps refugees
After three years of caring for thousands of sick patients in southern continent, Dr. Avigail Maayani returns to Israel to treat African refugees in Tel Aviv
Three years ago Dr. Avigail Maayani left for Africa to care for the sick and lead medical training courses. Now she has returned to Israel, but Africa is still on her mind.
The good doctor chose to continue caring for Africans at the Israel Medical Association (IMA) refugee clinic in Tel Aviv.
When she first left for Africa, Mayani, a trained-gynecologist, left behind her husband and three children and joined the international Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) delegation, in cooperation with Brit Olam, an international Israeli Jewish Volunteer Movement, on a three month volunteer program.
On her first journey to the southern continent, she visited a small city near Uganda. There she cared for sick patients and trained locals in the fields of hygiene, proper nutrition, baby care, sexually transmitted diseases and children’s illnesses.
Maayani met nearly a 1,000 patients throughout her initial journey, an experience which affected her so deeply she began dreaming of moving to Africa and saving more lives.
In the meantime, many African refugees have arrived in Israel, and Maayani is there to provide them with proper medical care.
“Helping people is giving love without conditions, without wanting anything in return. It makes you whole and enriches you as a person,” she explained.
The refugee clinic was founded some three years ago by the IMA and Israel’s Health Ministry. Dozens of doctors care for hundreds of patients there every month.
Source: Ynetnews.com
Israel mulls charity concert for Syrians
Foreign Ministry source confirms that singer-songwriter Arkadi Duchin called and volunteered to recruit leading Israeli performers for a charity rock concert.
Singer-songwriter Arkadi Duchin has asked Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for help in organizing a charity concert to raise money for anti-government forces in Syria.
A senior Foreign Ministry official said Lieberman and his aides may approve the idea, as part of a wider effort to express public Israeli support for the rebels and denounce the slaughter of Syrian people by President Bashar Assad’s regime.
A Foreign Ministry source confirmed that after Lieberman issued a press release on Friday offering humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, Duchin called the ministry and volunteered to recruit leading Israeli performers for a charity rock concert.
Lieberman’s office did not reject the idea out of hand and forwarded the proposal to members of the ministry’s professional staff, with an eye to approving it.
Duchin confirmed that he contacted Lieberman’s office about the issue but declined to elaborate. In response to a question from Haaretz the Russian-born performer said he had not pinned down a date for the concert, which is still in the earliest planning stages. “I made the offer from a human and humanitarian place,” Duchin said.
For the past two months Lieberman has been highly visible in calling for support of the Syrian rebels and in castigating Assad, in contrast to the weak comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The foreign minister has urged Assad to step down and offered to assist Syrian refugees who reach the area along the border with Israel.
Last week Lieberman instructed staffers to offer the International Committee of the Red Cross humanitarian aid to Syrian civilians. After consulting with Syrian rebel leaders, ICRC officials notified the Foreign Ministry that the offer was declined. The rebels said they did not want any connection to Israel; accepting aid from Israel would only confirm Assad’s claims that Israel and the West were behind the revolt against his regime, they explained.
Source: Haaretz.com
Israel sending humanitarian aid to Congo
Israel announced it would be sending humanitarian aid to the city of Brazzaville, which is in the Republic of Congo.
The announcement came after an explosion in an ammunition depot killed over 200 people in the city on Sunday. The aid will be delivered with the help of Magen David Adom in South Africa.
(AFP)
Pro bono surgery saves girl’s life
Volunteer doctors from Eye from Zion organization bring Ethiopian girl to Israel to remove rare tumor from her eye
A delegation of Israeli doctors and volunteers from the Eye from Zion organization traveled to Ethiopia recently to perform 160 cataract surgeries in a portable operation room donated by Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. During their visit, they met Kavda Imsak, a 10-year-old girl who suffered from a large tumor in her eye.
Since Ethiopian hospitals are not equipped for such operations, Imsak had to live with the large growth until the Israeli delegation arrived.
At first the team, headed by Dr. Nachum Rosen, preformed a preliminary surgery to discern whether the tumor was cancerous or benign. Later on, they decided to bring her to Israel to remove it.
“The chances of recovery are very slim,” said Eye from Zion founder Nati Marcus, who insisted on bringing the girl to Israel. “As soon as I saw her I decided to take a chance,” he explained.
Once it was decided to bring her to Israel for surgery, arrangements were coordinated with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Foreign Ministry, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the surgeons who agreed to operate pro bono.
According to Marcus, many offered to help, including the best doctors in the country who asked to take part in the complex operation, and hospitals that offered to donate surgery and recovery rooms.
A complex team work
Imsak arrived in Israel with her older sister, and was admitted to Sheba Medical Center. After extensive examinations, she was successfully operated on by two eye plastic surgery specialists, Dr. Guy Ben-Simon and Dr. Nahum Rozen. In a few days she is expected be taken to Haifa, where Dr. Yoav Vardizer will fit her for a prosthetic eye. She is then to return home to Ethiopia.
“This is not a routine surgery and it can’t be done by a single person” said Dr. Ben-Simon. “I have consulted with many colleagues around the world before entering the OR.” According to Ben-Simon, a large team participated in the complex surgery, including an imaging team.
Ben-Simon said that although the tumor was benign it had life threatening implications for the girl, in addition to blindness and obvious aesthetic harm. Its size made it impossible to completely remove without harming important blood vessels, but the team removed as much as they could.
“The hospital performs orbit surgeries on patients from all over the world, and there aren’t many cases of tumors like this,” Ben-Simon said. Now that the surgery was successful everybody feels relieved, he added. Imsak is facing a long recovery, but the doctor said he hopes to participate in next year’s delegation to Ethiopia, and follow up on his patient there.
This is not the first pro bono operation for Ben-Simon. Together with friends and colleagues he volunteers in various places with Eye from Zion and independently. The delegations consist of volunteers who fund their own travel.
Eye from Zion operates in various places including Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Micronesia, Myanmar and Ethiopia, sending advanced equipment, specialists, operating room nurses and experts to remote locales.
According to Marcus, the volunteers are the best ambassadors Israel can ask for. “This is the pretty face of Israel,” he said.Ben-Simon said that although the tumor was benign it had life threatening implications for the girl, in addition to blindness and obvious aesthetic harm. Its size made it impossible to completely remove without harming important blood vessels, but the team removed as much as they could.
“The hospital performs orbit surgeries on patients from all over the world, and there aren’t many cases of tumors like this,” Ben-Simon said. Now that the surgery was successful everybody feels relieved, he added. Imsak is facing a long recovery, but the doctor said he hopes to participate in next year’s delegation to Ethiopia, and follow up on his patient there.
This is not the first pro bono operation for Ben-Simon. Together with friends and colleagues he volunteers in various places with Eye from Zion and independently. The delegations consist of volunteers who fund their own travel.
Eye from Zion operates in various places including Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Micronesia, Myanmar and Ethiopia, sending advanced equipment, specialists, operating room nurses and experts to remote locales.
According to Marcus, the volunteers are the best ambassadors Israel can ask for. “This is the pretty face of Israel,” he said.
Source: Ynetnews.com