I recently had a long conversation with a wise friend of mine. I was complaining. Complaining about what, I can barely remember. But I was whipped around when she said “may we always be on the giving side.”
What a great sentiment.
That’s a novel goal. I stopped complaining immediately.
And realized the privilege I have of serving….and helping our communities get medical supplies. Is there anything worthier?
I admit, when I moved out here, I never even thought of what I would do if I needed a doctor, if one of my kids got hurt, or my husband.
It was just not one of the things we considered.
We asked “is there a school nearby?” and “is there a place for kids to play?” Really. That was what we cared about. Naive, I guess.
But as life moves on, we realize we need healthcare. We ALL need it at some time or another….
I went into labour on a Friday night around midnight, with my 5th child. We waited until the pain was really bad, called 101, and waited about 20 minutes for an ambulance. It was 2:00 a.m.. I waited in the dark, on the road. It felt like forever before that ambulance arrived.
My son broke his arm on the playground when he was ten. We took him to the hospital in Beer Sheva. There was no medic here then.
A young boy in our neighborhood had a seizure a few summers ago. There were no medics nearby. The ambulance took too long to arrive. (We didn’t have one in our yishuv and still don’t). The boy suffered severe brain damage. The family had to move…to be close to a hospital.
Today in Susya we have 3 medics; in the Har Hevron region we have over 100. There are 13 ambulances and one “intensive care.” There are about 10,000 living here among 20 communities.
We are making progress.
Throughout Yehuda and Shomron, our medics number 1,500. When someone calls for help, a medic responds, and fast. Just this week, there have been dozens of accidents and incidents reported…and we are always there on the scene. You don’t realize it until you need help.
If we didn’t have this network, our communities would not be able to grow. When you come to Israel, when your family is here, they can travel anywhere and help will come when needed. Here, because of our network of medics, you are never alone.
