11/22/23
This week, as the world marked World Children’s Day, a glimmer of hope appeared, as an agreement to release some of the most vulnerable hostages has been reached.
While the level of anxiety in Israel is as high as the hope, gratitude for that small spark is real, even amid the vast darkness of the conflict in Gaza.
Also this week, NATAN’s US supporters observe Thanksgiving, celebrating the foundational freedoms that are too often taken for granted.
Please also accept NATAN’s gratitude for your steadfast belief in our work, and your generous support.
In response to the tragic events of October 7, NATAN Worldwide Disaster Relief, in collaboration with Clalit Health Services and the Ministry of Health, swiftly established three humanitarian clinics in Shefayim, the Dead Sea, and Eilat to provide essential medical and psychosocial care for evacuees from the Gaza Strip.
Together, these clinics have treated over 1350 medical patients and 550 dental patients.
Hundreds of volunteers — 77 MDs, 44 nurses, 38 dentists, scores of assistants and operational support professionals — staff the clinics, which are open seven days a week.
Visit our website to learn more about NATAN’s work in support of October 7 survivors.
In Ofakim, NATAN continues to support the community with the creation of the Ofakim Resilience Center, opening on November 28, on the initiative of NATAN and Dr. Eitan Shachar, head of NATAN’s PsychoSocial Relief Operations and with the support of JDC-Israel, the Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC), and the local Mother and Child Center.
The Resilience Center will provide Ofakim residents with programs and resources to build individual and collective resilience and deliver PTSD counseling and related psychosocial services.
Learn more about NATAN’s work in Ofakim here.
Being a global disaster relief organization means having friends around the world who do not forget you when you need them.
In 2013, a decade ago, NATAN deployed to the Philippines for a humanitarian mission after Typhoon Haiyan. Our local partner was Operation Blessing Philippines (OB-Phil), a remarkable Christian organization.
This week, the first OB-Phil mission will land in Israel, for a three-month NATAN-OB collaborative project. We will mainly focus on helping the numerous Filipino evacuees in Israel, who remind us of their essential role as caregivers to our elders and those with disabilities.
Art therapy with children in the Philippines, 2013, with NATAN and OB-Phil volunteers, in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan.
Arielle Kaim, a PhD candidate in Emergency and Disaster Management at Tel Aviv University, put her academic training into practice at NATAN’s clinics for evacuees and survivors. She wrote:
“The soul of emergency and disaster management is innately human: marked by vulnerabilities, endowed with strength, and characterized by an unyielding capacity to overcome.”
Click here for Arielle’s full reflections, and visit NATAN’s website for more from NATAN’s volunteers.