Upon arrival
at Ben Gurion we were met
immediately by our Sar El contact,
whisked off on a luxury bus, all
seven of us, to our first
assignment. Sar El is the
organization that Volunteers For
Israel work under. We are presently
assigned to a military supply base
in the Negev, working with the
personnel here recycling military
supplies. The US donated enormous
amounts of tools and other supplies
while down-sizing Iraq and
Afghanistan wars that we are
cleaning and organizing..
My first
assignment along with (husband)
Stuart and a Toronto man, was to
sort metal, plastic and paper into
separate bins for hauling off base.
The hot sun about did us in but we
made our full eight hours without
croaking! The next day we worked at
that task until lunch. When we
returned to the site our manager
there dismissed us because the work
was completed. Later we learned we
had done a months worth of work for
them. They were astounded at our
tenacious attack of the pile of
rubble. In fact they say we are such
hard workers it picks up the pace of
their workers too.
We are housed
in barracks with 3 to a 9x12 room
furnished with home made wooden
bunks. The three inch mattress is a
bit firm or maybe it's the plywood
underneath. Anyway our short little
beds are adequate but small. Wonder
what the tall guys think? We have
one woolen blanket which is not
enough for the 40 degree nights. I
find layers of clothes are the
answer. We have bath rooms/showers
available through an open air
corridor which is very cold in
morning and night. We have no heat
in our room.
Our
meals are very different from home
in the US. We begin and end every
day with the same thing, eggs of
some sort, tomato and cucumber
chopped or sliced, yogurt, banana,
white bread, usually dry, I'm told.
There is hot tea too. Lunch is a
protein with several other vegetable
dishes.
People serving
here are a lawyer, surgeon, business
owner, lodge owner, all from the US
and a businessman from the UK, a
chemical engineer from Canada, a
doctor's wife and us. We were joined
a few days later by a man from
Chicago too. Don't know what he did.
Most are semi-retired. These people
are very inventive and lively - fun
to live with so far. Our managers
are called Madrichot, who are 19-20
year old soldiers. After the evening
meal they [spend several hours with
us] teaching a class in Hebrew, or
giving talks on the military or
other vital subjects while we
struggle to stay awake.
This base is
large in area, comprised of several
football field-sized buildings. They
are filled with military supplies.
After completing the outside job we
were reassigned to a sorting room
filled with bins of mixed tools.
Those are donations from the US
following the downsized Iraq and
Afghanistan wars. I have handled
more sockets than I knew existed!
All are sorted and placed in labeled
bins for packaging. This is eight
hours a day on my feet and I'm
holding up pretty well, if I do say
so. Must be my exhaustive water
workouts!
Other people
are sanding, painting and cleaning
tank parts. We have work left till
kingdom come. I see why they need
us. The personnel are spread thin
doing what they have to do to remain
secure.
Our stay at
this base will be three weeks, then
a reassignment for three more weeks
at another base.
Our days are
warm and sunny though this is the
rainy season. The area is so dry,
yet we see acres and acres of
growing plants.
 On Saturday last weekend we began suffering a desert sand storm. It came at us in 50-60 mph force, sifting fine silica everywhere including the lens of our closed camera, and any other area not enclosed in air tight protection. Day after day we fought through the cold wind and burning, abrasive particles. I'm ready to cut and run.
Along with other physical hardship of close quarters, sub-degree cold, impossible showers, lack of warm water unless you are hearty enough to endue icy air, and then the food... oh my. We are given one of my favorite foods non stop, breakfast and dinner, day after day, the hard boiled egg. I can't look at them any more. Along side is the ever present chopped tomato and cucumber salad, yogurt and white bread. Yuck to all of it!
Lunch improves immensely when officers are present. Long live the officers! Had one meal of turkey and one of baked chicken that were very good.
We hand wash clothes. Some don't dry for a while due to conditions.
Someone finally figured out we have heat in our bunk! End of terrible cold at night, anyway.
High point of the week was a trip to GAZA! Yes, we were almost there. We were fist taken to the Sderot police station where we saw a high walled shelving full of spent, explored missiles, rusting but with bent impact ends and dates written to indicate where and when it was hit. The [missiles] are handmade out of street poles or traffic lights, stolen for the purpose of death and human destruction. They are crude instruments of suffering, they have no directional control, just up out a bit and down. Boom.
Next we drove a few blocks to view several bomb shelters where the citizens have painted bright amusing walls outside to cheer each other during this protracted time of terror. We all crowded into one to see how this would feel. 14 of us were shoulder to shoulder but we heard that as many as 20-30, even with strollers might jam into to seek safety. Sound was deafening. A crying baby would stress everyone.
A short drive away we entered the Magan David Adom Station. This is an independent relief and medical assistance branch for all of Israel. The building was cement with center bomb shelter. We gathered inside for a talk with a paramedic who explained his work. He felt they regularly saved lives with advanced support such as trauma management and field intervention.
We remain well, if a bit pounded by our circumstances. The sand stopped. We cleaned where we could and finished the week.
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