08/16/2024
From NATAN Chair, Daniel Kahn:
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. However, true service requires discernment; it is not about seizing every opportunity, but about addressing genuine needs where our impact can be most profound.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
NATAN’s mission, “When the need is there, so are we,” may seem simplistic but presents a genuine challenge. Beyond the preparation and agility to enable the immediate deployment of fully equipped professional teams, we also weigh less-visible yet vital criteria: addressing a verified need, engaging with the local population to understand their requirements,leveraging local strengths to craft solutions, and identifying gaps that warrant external support.
However. NATAN does not intervene at any cost. Gandhi’s, and our, ethical mandate is crucial for maintaining our integrity and our reputation as an efficient, ethical humanitarian organization.
In the Upper Galilee, for example, our support includes interactions with local representatives and visits to sites affected by Hezbollah attacks. In Majd-Al-Shams, a NATAN representative promptly visited after the tragic death of 12 children, to acknowledge the cohesion and resilience of the Druze community. Their effective, instant responses made external intervention unnecessary.
Conversely, in Ukraine, in areas long bombarded by Russia, the needs are greater. Our local partners highlight the urgent need to enhance trauma response. With local partners, NATAN plans to open a Community Resilience Center in Ukraine, similar to the one we established in Ofakim (Israel) following the events of October 7th.
Ten months have passed since 7 October. Our work continues, at home and abroad, with discipline, dedication and gratitude for your generous support.
In the wake of unspeakable loss, daily life in Ofakim unfolds, with NATAN programs designed to delight, entertain, educate and inform the community. These activities all aim to encourage participation in public life, among friends and neighbors.
One popular feature is a new food truck, designed to appeal to Ofakim’s young people. Another is the “Making a Neighborhood” program, creating routines of resilience for children and families in the Shapira district, which suffered steep losses in October.
Families that spend time in the playground or a park experience a welcome taste of normal life — building resilience, confidence and strength.
Thanks to the generous support of donors like the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, NATAN volunteers have been on the ground in Ukraine for over two years, from the earliest days of the conflict. Current projects deepen our focus on resilience-building, providing vital skills and knowledge to professionals that interact with Ukraine’s most vulnerable residents, its children.
Brurya Noyberger, an educator and lifelong community activist, directs the Mishor House in Ofakim. She is the human hub of NATAN’s programs and services in Ofakim, but she doesn’t work alone: After October 7, she connected with a small group of local women, to find a way forward. NATAN volunteers were on the scene to help. As the group met, held workshops, and brainstormed community projects, momentum built; “People were eager to join, and the center” — once a hollow shell of a building — “was soon a meeting place,” Brurya said, for neighbors young and old as Ofakim emerged from its immediate grief into new life.
In January, the community held a Thanksgiving event, to celebrate their survival and Ofakim’s revival. At Purim, local children dressed as their real-life ‘superheroes’ — the police officers, soldiers and paramedics who reestablished order after 7 October. In a long season of bitterness and loss, Mishor House has gone from an empty shell to a bustling, vibrant center of safety, support, care and healing — all made possible through Brurya’s leadership, dedication, compassion and bottomless creativity. NATAN is grateful for her example and her service to the community she loves.