March 26, 2020
Even though we had a day ‘off’ yesterday, Benjamin continued
working very hard – mostly by being on the phone for a big part of the day. The
infighting at the Ministry of Social Welfare and the lack of communication, the
elderly and Holocaust survivors were in danger of falling between the cracks.
Thanks to Benjamin’s persistence he finally, around 8 p.m.
got the green light to continue delivering meals. And then so many requests
came in he had to turn most of them down.
Jose and her son Yoni were willing to be additional drivers,
which helped deliver the meals around lunch time because we now could share the
load.
Jannie (ICEJ-Aid) arranged for two other volunteers to help
prepare the meals for delivery. Happy to have a good reason to be out of the
house, they loved helping out!
We encountered two roadblocks on the way to the city center
– it seems the police were looking for someone. Thankfully, traffic was light
the rest of the way.
With so many hands, the cars were loaded quickly. Jose took
the Armon haNatsiv delivery, and we drove north to Pisgat Zeev.
“No, I don’t need the 80 meals,” Galina said. “I already
received a double amount from City Hall today.”
After a few phone calls, the answer was that she HAD to take
the meals... ?!
Galina decided to call a friend from the nearby Community
Center who came to pick up the meals and distribute them to other needy people.
Our next address was in Gilo, on the south side of
Jerusalem.
Hostel Gilo was part of the Community Center who had phoned
90 people on the list to come and pick up a meal. Ruslan was a very friendly
(Russian) man who gratefully received the meals and then offered us a cup of
coffee.
“No thanks, we have to go home.”
It was wonderful that we were already done for the day and
even had time to go to the post office to pick up a package. After taking a
number I had to join the people waiting outside, as no more than two people
were allowed inside. The clerk looked very unhappy to say the least. The glass
dividers were barricaded with an extra layer of plastic and chairs put in front
of the counter to force people to keep their distance. It was quite a challenge
to sign my name on the electronic device on the counter to receive the package.
It had been for one of our Dutch guests, who told us we could keep it –
licorice, chocolate, coffee, cookies....
Only last week we began our Hineni adventure – wow, so much
has happened that we’ve lost track of the days.
Tonight summertime begins and according to the calendar we
are now officially in Spring.
Judging from the yellow dust on the balcony chairs, pollen
season is now also in full swing!
We are looking forward to some R&R the coming days. I
have to prepare a special magazine edition for our church. The blessings of the
internet – who would have thought we’d been using it so much these days? And
would not be able to function without it anymore...
