JERUSALEM | Pairs of Palestinian and Israeli Seeds are making weekly visits to a Tel Aviv hospital where young patients from the Middle East and Africa receive emergency heart surgery. The visits, which will take place throughout 2011 and 2012, are coordinated with the Save A Child’s Heart non-profit. During their day-long visits, the Seeds work with the patients, their families, and hospital staff to provide translation work and fun activities.
• “I thought Save a Child’s Heart would just be fun and games with kids, but when we got there, I realized they were coming from conditions far worse than I imagined, not only from Gaza, but also Iraq, Zambia and Ghana. Once the families and their children opened up to us, they turned out to be really nice people.” —Taiysser
• “I realized going through such an extraordinary experience how helpful it is to be beside the children and their worried parents. When they gave us a ‘we need a translation’ look, or a ‘what is going on?’ look, we were there to help.” —Rana
• “I have been a member of Seeds of Peace since 1999, but because I am from Gaza, I have not been able to participate in activities since 2006. Until today—one of the most beautiful days ever. At the hospital, we saw the real hidden suffering of children with heart problems. Having the chance to stop the tears of these children is such a noble aim.” —Hani
• “The doctor who was showing us around lifted a sheet and under it was a little girl about 8 months old from Jenin. She looked like a newborn—she was so thin and I could literally see her skull and spine. She had something wrong with her heart. Her mother told us about how they had been waiting for weeks to get a room in the hospital, and how she couldn’t eat hospital food, and the fact that she doesn’t have any spare clothes. Most of all she told us of the pain she feels when she holds her child knowing that her little girl weighs less than her own arm. The girl broke our hearts. But what put a smile on my face was seeing hundreds of people, different in religion, tongue, nationality and culture functioning in harmony to help these children.” —Yuad
• “To witness people from different backgrounds and different edges of life uniting in the face of a dark situation all testifies to the humanity in all cultures and nations. All share the values of life and love.” —Ophir
• “For me, it was a very eye-opening and emotional experience. It was my first time to work with ill kids in a hospital. It was really hard seeing all those aching little bodies around me. In the beginning, I had a very complicated feeling and didn’t know how to deal with them. But this disappeared after holding the hand of a 2-year from Gaza. Mohammed was smiling and looking into my eyes.
“When I went with another girl and her mother to her room, I was surrounded by sick children. For a second, I felt so guilty for not knowing about them. I wanted to talk to each one, but I first went with this girl and translated for her and her mother and a nurse.
“I then met with two little kids from Jenin. Farah wasn’t talking; she was angry and she wanted to go home. Her mother told me that they have been here for more than two months. Abdallah laughed a lot. I held his little hand and started playing with him. I tried to take my hand back, but Abdallah wouldn’t give it to me! He held it strongly looking at me and smiling. At that moment, I wanted to hold him and cry.
“Eventually, I moved on to meet with Amer, Erena, and their mothers. They were from Iraq. Amer spent more than four months in the hospital and looked very weak and tired. Erena was moving around and talking a language that I couldn’t understand; her mother explained that she doesn’t speak Arabic as she is Kurdish. I also met with a little girl called Princess from Ghana. We couldn’t communicate, but she took my mobile and played with it.” —Rama
• “The families we met were mostly from Iraq, Gaza Strip and West Bank. It was kind of weird to see the Iraqi and Palestinian families alongside Israeli ones. But it seems that inside the hospital, politics and conflicts between nations and religions are forgotten. You don’t look at a child as a Palestinian or as an Iraqi. You look at him as a child who suffers from a heart disease and you need to do whatever you can to help him and his family.
“Many of the families didn’t speak Hebrew or English, so we helped the hospital staff with translation of orders, procedures and questions the doctors had for the families. I suddenly found myself translating from the doctor (Hebrew) to my partner Bissan (English) who then translated into Arabic for someone to share with the mother in Kurdish.
“We got to know a three-year-old Palestinian boy named Mahdi. He really touched our hearts. We played ball with him, drew with him, and talked to his parents to help them understand some technical details and forms they received.” —Gil
• “The importance of what Seeds of Peace does here is enormous! I don’t mean to sound corny, but seeing those kids, who are in a lot of pain, smiling and laughing is absolutely priceless. I can’t describe in words how happy I am to have the chance to help them feel better, and give their families a few minutes to themselves, a few minutes of relaxation and relief. I think this program is very special and meaningful, and I strongly recommend Seeds be a part of this opportunity to give back.” —Ya’ara
• “I was afraid that they might not speak English and therefore I wouldn’t be of much help, but when I arrived to the hospital and met the families, I understood that my fears were unfounded.
“The first girl I met was Yasmeen from Jordan. She was 11 years old and I liked her and her mother immediately. We talked about her life in Jordan and about fairy tales we both knew. We also listened to music and played card games. The second family I met was a mother and her 5-year-old son from Liberia. I helped her to communicate with the nurses and answered a few questions she had about Israeli culture and Judaism.
“The third family I met was a mother and her 5-year-old daughter from Angola. The mother could not speak any language besides Portuguese and she could therefore barley communicate with the people in the hospital. Since I understand Portuguese I could speak with her and I could see that she was very relieved to finally talk to someone about what she and her daughter were going through.
“The last family was a grandmother and her grandchild from Gaza. I was afraid that she and her friends, who also came from Gaza with their grandchildren for an operation, might not react well to me.
“I was very happy to see that they welcomed me so nicely and liked my company. They kept repeating how they want peace, which made me even happier. Even though we spoke Arabic most of the time and I understood only a part of they were saying, I felt welcomed.” —Yarden