Updated 12/09/2008 10:33 PM
Back to Mumbai
ALBANY, N.Y. - "We got a phone call from her and she said don't worry. There appears to be something going on with terrorists in Mumbai," said Rachel Baum, Mother of Ariel Schwartz.
Rachel Baum is on the phone with her daughter Ariel Schwartz. Schwartz moved to Mumbai five months ago. Terrorists hitting India's largest city and hitting it hard.
"Of all the cities in the world, why there and why was she in that city as that time?" said Baum.
Schwartz there, doing charitable work for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She works as an educator for the city's small Jewish community that numbers just more than 3,500.
"She was going to have a whole bunch of people to her house for Thanksgiving. The Joint Distribution Committee told them to pack a bag and be ready to leave a moment’s notice. They didn't know if Ariel and her roommate, who is also Jewish, would be in danger," said Baum.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
"It was pretty nerve racking getting to the airport because there had been a few sleepless days for us," said Ariel Schwartz.
Waiting for her at the airport, a seat on a plane arranged by the JDC. The destination was Israel and safety. At the same time, Schwartz's blog updating people on her ordeal and sadly the death of her friends Rabbi Gabriel Holtzverg and his wife Rivka.
"There are not words no word for how I feel about them. They were really kind people that did so much," said Schwartz.
Nearly 200 people are dead from the attacks including dozens of foreigners. Schwartz spent more than a week in Israel and is now back home in Mumbai. And deep down, never doubting she'd return.
"My partner and I were talking tonight and saying to one and other how important it was to go back, because it is doing exactly the opposite of what terrorists want us to do, which is to turn around and runaway," said Schwartz.
"I am anxious to go over when it is safe. I wish she could come home but I know she has a bigger purpose," said Baum.
The purpose is helping people and for Ariel Schwartz, even a terrorist attack, won't stop her from doing that.