Haiti & Israel

I think one reason I'm so obsessed with what's going on in Haiti is because it's probably the first time my level of interest in/connection with the Caribbean is matched by the Israeli media. People in Israel are grateful our army and teams have been able to help there and grateful that our contribution has been recognized. Good news about Israel on the international front is scarce, so this is much appreciated.

Before these past weeks events, many people in Israel did not know where Haiti is. The Caribbean is so far from here and Israelis don't have a tradition of visiting there - they do go to Central and South America - young travellers - and they do go to Colombia for medical treatment (transplants), but most Israelis have no connection with the Caribbean.

We took our book of photos of Haiti down from the shelf (a gift from Vlad) and found that the photographer, Daniel Kedar, is an Israeli who lives in Haiti. The very next morning I heard him interviewed on the radio news - an Israeli expert on Haiti - he is one of the key people communicating between Haitians and the Israeli medical and rescue teams there. You can see his work and read about his photo books at www.kedar.net (some of the pages work, some don't). Gabi now wants to meet him - she's learned a lot about the situation in Haiti and is considering making Haiti her topic when she does her "a friend teaches a friend" presentation in March.

Please donate for Haiti.