(JTA) — The Israeli foreign ministry will team up with Brazil’s Jewish community to deliver medical aid to Guinea Bissau in Africa.

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin “reacted positively” to a request that Israel join the project initiated by Claudio Lottenberg, the head of the CONIB umbrella group of Brazilian Jewish communities and president of the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paolo, according to a statement published Thursday by CONIB.

Lottenberg approached Elkin on Oct. 21, during the meeting of the executive board of the World Jewish Congress in Jerusalem, according to the statement.

The aid project is scheduled to begin January in Guinea Bissau and is headed by Lottenberg in his capacity as the hospital’s president and CONIB president.

Lottenberg initiated the project after meeting earlier this month with Jose-Ramos Horta, a former president of East Timor.

Horta told Lottenberg that help is “needed in East Timor but more so in Guinea Bissau, which is among the world’s poorest countries with serious health problems,” the CONIB website reported.

Lotenberg is scheduled to visit Guinea Bissau in January to determine what resources and services are needed.