‘I’m Ready to Defend My Homeland’
The Fellowship | April 10, 2025
Debbie, 22, first visited Israel from Mexico to participate in a volunteer program for a few months as a paramedic at Magen David Adom (Israel’s version of the Red Cross) to build up experience for medical school. But just shortly after she arrived in Israel, October 7 happened – and her volunteer position was postponed.
“I remember those days of October 2023,” Debbie says. “A lot of [volunteers] were heading back home and all I could think about was that I wanted to start my program so that I could help Israelis.” Debbie stayed in Israel until the program reopened.
Debbie’s initial plan was to spend a few months in Israel and to later return to her home in Mexico and study medicine. But her experience in Israel – helping care for Israelis in the weeks following Hamas’ attack – changed everything. “I realized that I felt powerless about what happened,” she says, referring to Hamas’ attack. “And I wanted to make myself useful. During my program, we spoke with someone who had been in Israel as a volunteer paramedic and later became a medic for the IDF. I realized that is what I wanted for my life.”
Because Debbie loves her homeland, and she saw such a need for help, she decided to make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) with The Fellowship to serve in the IDF as a frontline medic!
She told us that Israel is where she wants to spend the rest of her life because she knows it’s a country that needs her the most. It’s stories like this that bring us so much hope for the future of Israel.
