Yossi Ginsberg

«I have lived through tremendous adventures and survived only because other people risked their lives for me. Realizing how interconnected and interdependent we all are, I am neither shy or embarrassed when it is time for me lean on another to ask for help. And when I have the opportunity to help another, I view it as my duty and privilege», - this is a famous expression of the Israeli traveler Yossi Ginsberg. Today in cinemas you can see the film "Jungle", which is based on the extraordinary history of this man who once got lost the Amazonian jungle. Yossi himself is played by the famous actor Daniel Radcliffe.

Yossi Ginsberg was born in 1959 in Tel Aviv. The boy's parents survived the Holocaust. Yossi lived as an ordinary Israeli youth - went to serve in the army at the age of 18. Yossi had a dream - to get acquainted with the French writer Henri Sharriier, whose autobiography ("Butterfly") he read when he served in the navy of Israel. Sharriere also served in the fleet (of France), but after a false accusation of murder, he was put into a jail near Guinea in South America. He had escaped for several times, but he was returned to prison. After his release, Henry lived in Venezuela. Yossi worked on several jobs to raise funds and go to South America. He wanted to ask Sharriier an advice on how to explore the Amazon jungle.

But when Ginsberg raised funds, Sharriere had already died. But Yossi still went for his dream. From Venezuela, the traveler reached Colombia, where he became friends with a teacher from Switzerland, Mark Stamm, and went with him to Bolivia, La Paz. There they met the geologist Karl Ruprechter, who agreed to lead the young men to the expedition, to seek gold. They were joined by an American photographer named Kevin Gale.

It was an adventure that Yossi had been waiting for. He was 21 years old and nothing could stop him before realizing his dream. But reality was cruel. First, 4 brave conquerors of the jungle left without food. They were forced to eat fruits and ... monkeys. Teacher Stamm refused to eat it and he was abandoned. Another unpleasant discovery waited for the men: the geologist Ruprechter was not a geologist, but an Austrian criminal, the last chance for a "happy life" of which was the gold that the group was looking for. This news has sown discord in the team. Photographer Kevin Gale and Yossi decided to build a raft and return to La Paz along the rivers. "Geologist" could not swim, so he took over the withered teacher, and they went their own route. The group agreed to meet in La Paz for Christmas.

But the guys lost control of the raft and flew into the waterfall on it. The photographer managed to escape and go ashore, but Yossi was less fortunate - he was borne by the current. Fortunately, the young man was not seriously injured. For several days he was looking for a friend, but he could not find Kevin.

Ginsberg was left alone in a terrible jungle and all the kinds of torments that it could prepare for a man. His body was bitten by huge red ants, mosquitoes. Several times, Yossi was almost eaten by predators. Twice he had to get out of the swamp. The young man fell into a flood in which he barely survived. So more than two weeks passed. In the last 5 days, Yossi did not eat anything, he suffered from hallucinations. And suddenly - he heard the engine. Ginsberg thought it was another ghost, but it was the aboriginal search group that had been looking for him for several days. It turned out that photographer Kevin Gale survived. A few days later, the aborigines found him, and he told them about Yossi. They found an Israeli traveler when there was no chance for his salvation.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to find two other members of the team - the "geologist" Karl Ruprechter and the teacher Mark Stemm.

After the rescue, Yossi was treated for three months in a hospital. He fully recovered, joined the Tel Aviv University at the Faculty of Jewish Philosophy and Business Administration.

If you think it was Ginsberg's last trip to Amazonia, you are very wrong. He returned there again in 10 years. Yossi helped residents of the San Jose-Uchupiamons settlement get a grant of $ 1.25 million in the Inter-American Development Bank for the construction of solar cells in the jungle. Ginsberg lived in the settlement for 3 years - from 1992 to 1995, helped to reduce the Chalalan eco-house in the Bolivian national park of Madidi. He did many other useful things, for example, he defended the intellectual property of the indigenous peoples of the region.

In 1995, the International Center for Drug Abuse Research and Treatment (CITA) invited Yossi to the position of Vice President of Development. Ginsberg created 12 treatment centers from opium addiction around the world, from Mexico to China. In 2009 he left the post and opened his own treatment center of the same profile in Australia.

Subsequently, Yossi returned to Israel and founded a design company. In 2013 he became one of the co-founders of the start-up "Headbox", now he works as general manager at Blinq.com, a company based in Silicon Valley

Yossi Ginsberg is a man who is called one of the most motivating personalities of our time. It embodies the fact that faith, fortitude, moral strength and selfless labor can help you to stand up despite what you have gone through. Never give up - in either extraordinary or ordinary situations.