the disaster, which placed them in high demand with grieving families. In February 2007, ZAKA sent a 10-person search and rescue team, consisting primarily of rescue divers, to Paris to search for a missing Israeli Defense official. The mission was funded by the Defense Ministry at an expected cost of $80,000. In November 2008, ZAKA volunteers went to Mumbai, India following terrorist attacks that included a Jewish center among its targets. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake, a six-man ZAKA International Search and Rescue Unit delegation arrived in Haiti to assist with search and recovery efforts. Working with the Mexican military delegation and Jewish volunteers from Mexico, eight students trapped under the rubble of the collapsed eight-storey Port-au-Prince University building were rescued on the first day after their arrival. Teams of ZAKA volunteers were sent to Japan in March 2011 to assist in search-and-rescue after the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami. A ZAKA team went out with an Israeli mission to Nepal in late April 2015 to help search for casualties in the aftermath of the earthquake and subsequent avalanches. In January 2017, a team of ZAKA volunteers worked overtime searching for survivors subsequent to a 7.0-level earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. In January 2019, a ZAKA team deployed in Brazil to conduct search and rescue operations following a dam collapse in Brumadinho. Public recognition In Israel, the primary Chesed Shel Emes organization is known as ZAKA, though other organizations exist. The devotion of the members of ZAKA and the professional manner in which they handled difficult and tragic scenes, such as the treatment of the bodies of victims killed in suicide bombings, led to strong public respect and admiration. The great contribution of ZAKA to Israeli society was soon widely recognized. This recognition enabled ZAKA to recruit more volunteers, and with growing monetary donations, purchase advanced equipment, such as first aid kits, ambulances, MIRS (communications) and motorcycles (for rapid response). The increase in reputation, donations and manpower enabled ZAKA to participate in additional voluntary activities beyond disaster victim identification and supplying first aid. Such other activities include helping senior citizens and education initiatives to prevent road accidents. One of the founders of ZAKA, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, was given the honor of lighting an honorary beacon on Israel's 55th Independence Day ceremonies on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, the revered burial spot of modern Zionism's founder Theodor Herzl. Controversy In August 2007, ZAKA