Israeli Technology and Expertise Promote Progress in Africa Israeli organizations and volunteer groups assist several African countries in technological, economic and social development.
This assistance has spread throughout Eastern Africa from its base in Nairobi, which has become “an international hub in East Africa for development” according to Gilad Milo, the founder of the Israel for Africa NGO.
A series of serious terrorist attacks such as the one at the Westgate mall in September 2013 has failed to make any serious impact on this state of affairs. Initially, organizations such as IsraAid came to Kenya as part of the international effort to overcome the critical drought but soon changed direction as the major international organizations provided aid on a massive scale and the effects of the drought subsided.
Today IsraAid brings expertise based on Israel’s experience to help the traumatized victims of terror attacks and have trained 18 residents of the Kakuma refugee camp to help many of the camp’s 100,000 residents cope with their pain.
This forms part of the organization’s new long-term focus.
The Israeli presence in Kenya has been ongoing since the country’s independence in 1963 and this cooperation has developed in areas such as security, infrastructure, agriculture in addition to professional training in diverse fields. Israeli agricultural know-how has reached many small and remote villages featuring plant adaptation and pest control in addition to modern irrigation systems such as drip irrigation for which Israel is famous.
This assistance has been particularly important in the semi-arid northwest regions where grazing cattle is no longer a viable occupation and suitable crops now offer a more reliable food source. In the words of Millet Biberman, a project manager for Brit Olam,
“Until you have water and food, you can’t do anything else.” Yet another area of Israeli activity relates to health improvements and one prominent non-profit organization “Save a Child’s Heart” brings underprivileged Kenyan children to Israel for specialized heart surgery. This NGO founded in 2008 works throughout the world and the waiting list in Kenya currently stands at 250 children.
