5th December 2010

“My best friend’s husband has just been killed in the fire. What do I say to the family?” Tova (not real name) called NATAL’s Hotline yesterday for help about this desperate situation.

from BBC World Photos - Fire on the Carmel

Over the weekend NATAL’s Hotline received over 300 calls from: 

•Those who have lost friends and family in the disaster
•Those who have had to leave their houses and are reliving post traumatic symptoms from the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
•Those who are anxious and afraid for their families
•Children are especially afraid of the fire and refuse to leave their houses.
 

As the largest and deadliest fire in Israel’s history is starting to be under control, we are beginning to see the devastating damage left in its wake. 42 people have been killed, homes have been burned, and 17,000 residents have been evacuated, leaving with only the clothes on their backs.

So great was the size of the fire that help was needed from the UK, the USA and other friends.

In the past 72 hours all of NATAL’s units have been working around the clock to help the Prison Authorities who lost 41 officers in the fire. NATAL’s therapists helped them with the difficult task of notifying the families of the deceased.

In the weeks to follow NATAL will provide resiliency workshops to enable all emergency professionals to go back to work and to face life despite what they went through.

Youth at Risk Home Destroyed: NATAL is working closely with Yemin Orde, a village for youths at risk which was massively damaged by the fire. 500 youths are now homeless and traumatized with nowhere left to go. Many come from broken homes, are orphans or are immigrants. We need to help the youths, who have already been through so much in their lives, to recover from this ordeal. This will require ongoing resiliency training over the weeks and months that will follow this crisis.

It is clear that as the days go on, our work will only intensify. As the fire is put out in the forest, NATAL must deal with the emotional scars and wounds of the people on the ground.
 

This Hanukkah we really need a miracle.