Angels of Mercy

"I found them!"

"Found who?" My husband inquired. "The students caring for the refugees!" I was so excited I could hardly contain myself.

I first got a hold of Eytan Schwartz, well-known for winning "Ha Shagrir" - the Israeli version of "The Ambassador" TV program. Eytan is a spokesperson for CARD, Israeli's concerned for the Darfur conflict and the refugees. They were now forefront in bringing awareness to Israeli's, especially since over 2,000 Sudanese refugees are now within Israel's borders. Eytan encouraged me to contact the students (photo above) in charge who were directly assisting the refugees.

Keren, a very kind and soft-spoken Israeli student studying at Hebrew University in Jerusalem was pleased with an offer to help. "We desperately need backpacks and simple carry cases for the refugees to place donated clothing and other personal items. Thank you for being persistent in finding us."

"We'll get it to you right away." Making our way to Mahane Yehuda, the open market in Jerusalem, we found a vendor with just what we were looking for (above photo), at just the right price. I think we nearly bought him out. Clearly, he was having a good day.

Delivering the bags to the refugees was a delight. How grateful they were to finally have a place to hold a few simple items. Each family claimed a bag and set off to their make-shift tent home, neatly folding their clothes and placing them into their cases.

It was such a small thing, but a gesture of concern nonetheless. As we left, the angels of mercy student body were hard at work, on their cell phones planning for the coming days, arranging shifts schedules, media interviews, etc. We learned that the student were on call and even sleeping with the refugees in the park at night. Several times, they have had to take a couple of them to the doctor. Two ladies are pregnant, and alone as their spouses were left behind in Egypt.

I could not help but think of them as once again I climbed into a warm bed with a roof over my head. It was cold and damp tonight with too much wind for a July evening, heightening my concern for the welfare of Jerusalem's newest guests sleeping under the stars.