A medical clinic on the border of Syria and Israel is providing free healthcare and aid to Syrian citizens who have been caught in the middle of a civil war for more than six years. And, incredibly, despite hostility from the Assad regime, Israel continues it’s relentless effort to send aid to struggling Syrians.
Camp Ichay, a product of the Christian humanitarian aid organization Friend Ships Unlimited, provides urgent medical care to Syrians in dire need, according to CBN News. It operates inside the Israeli border under the protection of the IDF.
About 80,000 Syrians in the area need medical attention. They arrive by truck at the Syrian border, and after a series of security checks, they arrive at Camp Ichay “to receive medical attention and love,” said Don Tipton, who co-founded the organization with his wife, Sondra Tipton. Friend Ships works alongside Israel’s Good Neighbor Project to help the Syrians, Don Tipton said.
“It’s amazing to watch the transformation in these people when they’re not under the oppression of war,” he said.
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In the first two months alone, Camp Ichay has treated about 2,000 people, typically for ailments such as infections and rashes or injuries residents received as a result of the war, said Sondra Tipton. For the people who they cannot treat, Camp Ichay refers them to other outlets, she said.
The camp is in the process of installing Wifi and telemedicine and is waiting for more equipment like incubators, birthing beds and X-ray machines, but they not the most urgent needs for the camp.
“Right now, we’re in desperate need of people to play with the children, and doctors and nurses,” Don Tipton said. “That’s our main need. But, we need people to just come and help.”
The camp also goes beyond medical needs. Every day, patients leave with a bag full of goodies, which they fill with clothes, toys, and other necessities from the camp’s distribution camp.
A children’s room features a bounce house, trampoline and snow cone machine, with an ice cream machine on the way.
“These kids, they’ve been in a war since they were born,” Don Tipton said. “They’re so happy in here.”
The adults “go nuts” as well on the trampoline, he said
Friend Ships found a “great willingness in Israel to help the Syrians,” Sondra Tipton said. At first, they tried to way a way through Lebanon or Jordan to get goods to Syrians in need, but it was a dead end, she said.
“We had no idea that we would run into such a loving friend in Israel – that they would have the same vision for helping these people as we did, as Christians,” Don Tipton said. “So, we have Jews helping Christians to help the Muslims.”
After nightfall, CBN News accompanied the IDF to a mission in an unspecified location along the Syrian border. The mission was to deliver 10 tons of flour for Syrian residents.
Deliveries are made seven days a week.
(H/T: CBN News)