ZAKA has come up with an ingenious way of tracking the lonely and childless through digital water clocks. This is part of ZAKAs continued to push to find new innovative ideas for the Don’t Leave Them Behind campaign. The idea is simple, use water usage as a way to see if there is activity in a seniors home. This is after a rush of difficult cases of finding lonely and childless seniors in their homes many days after their death.
First Pilot Project
The first pilot is currently being carried out in the city of Yokneam. The city is home to about 120 people who met the criteria to be considered alone and/or childless. The water corporation started monitoring the water consumption data of those tenants on a daily basis. Thanks to monitoring, the corporation learns about the user’s condition, if, for example, they see that there is no consumption or that consumption is very low, an alert is triggered, and the details are passed on to the welfare services of the tenant’s condition.
The pilot project started back during the holidays and has so far been a great success. A number of apartments with low consumption did in fact trigger an alert and it was found that the same tenant was in a hospital or with the children. In one case, it was found that the tenant had died in a nursing home where she was staying. The plan also helped the corporation overcome other issues. In one case, increased consumption was discovered in an apartment and the corporation employee who arrived at the scene found that the faucet was broken and had it repaired.
ZAKA’s has been leading extensive campaigns and public ventures to raise awareness on this issue, such as supporting seniors and they are making every effort to harness any innovative technological idea that can help locate the lonely and helpless in time.
Leaders Speak About the Need and Success
Mr. Alon Maor, the initiator of the idea, brought the project to the forefront of the ZAKA organization, which decided to adopt it and promote it with the authorities. As stated, the city of Yokneam was chosen as a pilot, and with the blessing of Mayor Mr. Simon Alfasi, Acting director of the welfare department, Ms. Tami Rosh, and the director of the Valley Springs Corporation, Mr. Yehuda Siso, launched the project, which has so far yielded good results.
Yehuda Meshi Zahav, Chairman of ZAKA: “Since the beginning of the year (2020), ZAKA volunteers have treated about 140 bodies of lonely and helpless people who were found lying in their homes long after their deaths, severe cases of people being forgotten and died alone without anyone knowing about their deaths. They (were found) in a state of extreme decomposition. ZAKA promotes diverse and interesting technological ideas to prevent unnecessary and horrific deaths. I thank from the bottom of my heart all the soldiers in the Yokneam Municipality for their response and commitment to this important life-saving project.
The Mayor of Yokneam, Mr. Simon Alfasi: “Unfortunately, the Corona has created many intolerable situations, including those that directly affect couples who are childless and those living alone. We pray that in Yokneam there is no tragedy that happens and no one knows. We are pleased to participate in this important pilot of ZAKA and to lead it with supersensitivity. “
“The cooperation between all parties can create life-saving alerts. I believe the program will be expanded to many localities based on the findings here. I thank the Water Corporation and the Department of Welfare, together we will continue to take care of everyone who needs it.”
The CEO of the Valley Springs Corporation, Mr. Yehuda Siso: “The pilot started with an idea that came up in ZAKA following incidents of deaths of childless couples and individuals without anyone knowing about their deaths. We were contacted through the Water Authority to examine the possibility of monitoring infertile consumers through their water consumption. It was agreed that a joint pilot will be made with the municipality and later we will offer the other authorities in the corporation to join this welcome initiative. “
Haim Weingarten, Chief of Staff of ZAKA: “The pilot has proven itself and is very successful but most importantly it saves lives. In addition to the “Living Water” project, the ZAKA organization is currently promoting another innovative project in collaboration with Aurora View Ltd., a project called “Mutual Guarantee System”, which uses the “active distress button”, another technological solution that will improve the situation and reduce The severe phenomenon. ‘
