IFA Operations

The following are some of the operations conducted by IFA (that can be made public):

August 2008: The Conflict between Georgia, Asia and Russia
IFA dispatched a team to Georgia following the Russian attack over Ostia and Abkhazia that left tens of thousands of Georgian refugees without basic food or shelter. Some of the refugees escaped from south Ostia and some from Georgian territory that the Russians had conquered. The team executed the following missions:

• Cooked food. Ten volunteers spent two weeks cooking 3500 meals per day for the refugee camps at the Gori City zone.

• Dry food. Since the Russian military had conquered a huge area in north Georgia and prevented food and humanitarian assistance from reaching the area inhabitants, IFA brought in a second crew every day to the Russian area with an aid caravan carrying dry-food such as rice, potatoes, salt, sugar, oil, and pasta.
• Enabling the UN. Following these missions, the UN food organization managed to get in its own caravan legally.  

May 2008: Cyclone Nargis at Maynmar
IFA dispatched five volunteers to the most remote areas of the Delta area of Burma following Cyclone Nargis that left 110,000 dead and four million homeless. The IFA volunteers, who risked their lives in entering the country in face of opposition by the Hunta`s leader, were the first and only NGO volunteers to reach the most remote of the Delta area, and provided sorely needed aid. This aid included:

• Basic supplies. IFA purchased, transferred and scattered the contents of an aid-caravan that included tons of rice, sugar, salt, oil, cans of fish and meat, candles, and plastic bolt to cover the temporary shelter from the monsoons.
• Cooked meals. The IFA crew worked for two weeks supplying food for about 55,000 people.
• Al-Jazeera coverage. For two days, an Al-Jazeera film crew joined the Israeli team and filed several complimentary stories about the unusual “Israeli” activity at the depth of the Burmese Delta zone.

June 2006: Earthquake in Indonesia
IFA launched an eight-member team to assist the victims of the massive earthquake (6.2 on the Richter scale), in which more then 5,000 people were killed, more then 50,000 were injured, and hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless. The team assisted the local inhabitant of the country region of Solo, in which 9,000 people were living in tents next to their homes` ruins. 80%of the population was Moslems and 20% Christians, and none was aware to the IAF nationality. The mission achieved the following:

• Massive cooking.  5,200 cooked meals were provided each day.
• Post trauma treatment.  Israeli post-trauma specialists treated 220 children aged 3-12 following their loss and trauma.

November 2005: Earthquake in Kashmir - India and Pakistan  
IFA launched a mission to assist the victims of the severe earthquake (7.8 Richter scale) in Kashmir, on both the Indian and Pakistani sides. The mission entailed the following:

• Purchasing and distributing goods. Provision of basic dry food products to thousands of families (12 members per family); blankets, coats and socks; personal clay heating kits; and iron sheets to protect the temporary shelters from the heavy snow.
• Secrecy. The aid was provided under complete confidentiality since the team was operating in a sensitive conflict area, and thus had to keep a local-Muslim appearance due to great personal risk.

September 2005: Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 
IFA launched an 18-member team to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Search and rescue activities. IAF spent two weeks on search and rescue, including locating victims` bodies that were left in the ruins.
• Evacuation. The IAF Logistics team assisted in evacuating buildings and removing obstacles that interrupted the search and rescue work.
• Prepping other rescue teams. Five IAF doctors assisted in vaccinating and securing the rescue teams on the front line of the disaster area.
• Supporting rescue workers. The IAF Team of psychologists supported the local emotionally stressed rescue teams.
            

IFA`s team had official permission from the Federal USA`s Government Office of Homeland Security, to operate in the disaster area.

The IFA operation was possible due to close ties and cooperation with American Jewish Federations, the American Jewish Committee, senior officials at AIPAC, and American Congressmen and Senators, who were familiar with previous IFA work and activities.  Their assistance secured authorization and consent from the Louisiana Governor, which enabled the IAF team to enter a closed military area and carry out their work there.
The IFA team also benefited from the support and close cooperation of most of the local authorities, i.e., the USA Army, Sheriff Office, the District President, FEMA, Special Forces of the Fire-Fighters Academy, and the Red Cross.

July 2005: Floods in Georgia (Asia)
IFA initiated a relief project to assist Georgia`s flood victims, in a coordinated effort with the Zionist-Georgian Congress, which provided the following services:
• Food. Tons of essential food and supplies were distributed in areas, extending for 2,500 km.
• Reaching the Chechnyan border. IFA`s volunteers managed to get to the Chechnya border with food supplies for 250 families that were besieged for three weeks – what was an impossible mission for the Georgian government, but IFA executed successfully.
• Lifesaving medicine. Following a special request from the Georgian President, IFA arranged a large donation of special life saving medicine: Copaxone for the President`s wife.

• Chemotherapy. IFA financed chemotherapy treatment for a widow who lost her husband in the flood, left with 5 children with no one to care of her family. 

January 2005: Tsunami Disaster in Sri Lanka
IFA’s founder, Gal Lousky, led a unique holistic-global model of disaster relief that integrated the efforts of 25 different organizations worldwide in the disaster areas in Sri Lanka. This model required a multidisciplinary aid:

• Nutrition. Operation of a kitchen that produced 4,000 meals a day.
• Breastfeeding substitutes. Guidance and supply of breast milk substitutes for 150 mothers who could not breastfeed as a result of loss and trauma.
• Medicine. Primary medical treatment by project doctors for 300 people a day.
• Post-trauma treatment. Provision of post-trauma therapy for 320 kids every day for two weeks by Israeli post-trauma specialists.

June 2004: Hunger in Eritrea
IFA shipped and distributed food supplies.

April 2004: Genocide in Darfur, Sudan
IFA provided relief and assistance to survivors of the attacks in which 2.5 million Sudanese were killed. IFA initiated a special project in the refugees` camps. In order to protect the refugees from deadly violence outside the camps, IFA employed workers from Chad to collect essential firewood, and distributed it inside the camps.