This is a trip report from a convoy of volunteers to the north from Yozma.  Two KBY volunteers joined the group and wrote this report.
 

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Here is a more lengthy account of our trip to the North.  I hope that KBY will urgently raise more funds to enable us to go back as soon as possible. We have more pictures that Lior is still sorting out and will make available soon.

We left Tel Aviv at 05:30 on Tuesday morning and join the other 14 volunteers in Modiin. The team, made of people coming from Be’er Sheva, Jerusalem, Modiin and Tel Aviv, started loading the cars in what could be described as a joyous Israeli balagan. After receiving a security briefing we were on our way to the North.

The first part of the drive was like any road trip and was difficult to realize that we were heading for a war zone. When we stopped for our first break it downed on us that this was not the highway to a resort in the Galilee. We were the only civilians at the petrol station surrounded by army reservists making their way up to the front.

The traffic became thinner when we reached Haifa. By the time we got to Akko most of the cars were heading south. The city was quiet and a few shops were starting to open again after 2 weeks. Whoever had any money was shopping for supplies anticipating the next strikes. We made the decision to focus on what is described by the municipality as “private” shelters in the poorest neighborhood.

We targeted 4 neighborhoods comprising a total of 11 shelters. A “private” shelter is basically a reinforced room meant to secure the inhabitants of a building for a limited period of time. Those rooms are small and are by no means designed to accommodate people for a period of several weeks as is happening now.

We had to make difficult decisions to make sure we would make the most of our supplies. We made packages for women, kids and family and made sure to dispatch the right package to each shelter.

We assigned 2 volunteers to assess the situation in each shelter and make sure that we distributed only was really needed to satisfy the basic needs in each shelter.

Unfortunately the situation became very tense in one of the neighborhoods as people became aware of our presence. Everybody was trying to get hold of supplies and we had to leave abruptly to avoid being mugged by a group of people who felt left out. The needs were far greater than what we had to offer. And however difficult it was we decided to stick to our focus: to provide direct assistance to the poorest of the poor in Jewish areas.

It was with a heavy heart that we made our way to Naharya. There the mood was gloomier than Akko. We saw evidence of the rocket strikes on buildings, cars, houses and shops. The city looked like Jerusalem on Shabbat but we were in the middle of the week. The loudspeakers were continuously broadcasting calls to the population to remain in shelters and artillery shots were heard in the background. We were lucky enough that only 2 rockets hit the city that day.

The shelters in Naharya are dug deeper than the ones in Akko, at least 2 levels below ground. People were better organized as they were continuously in the shelters for the past 3 weeks. Women are running a tight ship and helped us tremendously in dispatching our supplies to the right place. This gave us the opportunity to spend time playing games with the children and distribute toys and books.

In Naharya we visited 5 neighborhoods for a total of 20 shelters and 10 disabled people’s private homes (they could not be moved to the shelters). We also distributed 50 packages to the Ethiopian Mercaz Klitah.

Thanks to the volunteer efforts and generous donations from Kehillat Yozma, Bnei Akivah, KBY and others, the effort was able to send a convoy of 7 cars to the North.  All in all we gave direct assistance to at least 300 people.

The typical package for kids contained breakfast cereals, milk, chocolate spread, cookies, cakes, chocolates and sweets. The women’s package included tampons and hygienic pads, deodorant, soap, shampoo, body lotion, hand cream and toothpaste. The family package included coffee, tea, sugar, milk, instant noodles and canned food. We also provided baby formula and bottles, baby food, diapers and wet “towels” for the babies.

At the end of the day we made our way to the Lebanese border and visited paratroopers who were resting in between operations in a moshav. We distributed 20 packages including toothpaste, shampoo and soap, snacks and sweets. Those guys were so young they looked like kids (the officers on the field are 22). By now there was no room left to doubt that the country was at war and artillery shots were as close as can be. We learned on the radio on the way back that some of the kids in the unit we visited didn’t make it back to Israel alive that night.

It has been a very tough day and a wonderful one as well. We all felt we made a difference but at the same time we were more aware of the needs that we could not satisfy. Thanks to the KBY contribution we brought a ray of light to the people we visited.

I urge you once again to carry on informing people on the situation and help us organize more trips to the North. All volunteers paid for their gas, coffee and food and provided their own cars. Your contribution went 100% to real people and was hand delivered with a smile.