STORIES OF HOPE AND POSSIBILITY

Some of Those whom Hagit has helped

I would like to tell you some stories. The names may seem like drops in the ocean to you, but for me every name has shape, heart and soul. When I say the name I see the child.

Atef who is now 23 or 24, was injured during the Intifada in the early 1990s, and was completely paralyzed, save for some movement in his right palm. These days, the Palestinian authorities have no education or health systems and are unable to help people.

A call came to me one day telling Atef’s story, that he had been injured in the previous Intifada. He lives in Jabalya refugee camp and was injured while trying to save his brother, who was killed there.

Atef decided that he wants to start his education university study but couldn't because he didn't even have a wheel chair. We raised some money for an electrical wheel chair and now he attends university.

Allah is a child from a small Palestinian village near Hebron. In the first days of the Intifada he was playing what he understood as a "game", throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers. A rubber bullet hit him straight in the eye. He was not treated properly and soon both eyes were infected. He almost lost his sight! . We managed to take him to an Israeli hospital and an Israeli doctor there advised to send him to England for an operation. We managed to do this well, because miracles always happen. The next I heard from Allah was a couple of months later when he called me to say, "Grandma, I want you to know that I ride my bicycle." This was big news for me. When I went to visit Allah, the child who almost lost his sight, in the hospital I brought him some clothes and sweets. I think he was happier about the sweets than anything else. He said to his mother: "Yama, is she Jewish? Are you sure she is Israeli?" This really broke my heart. This gave me another understanding of how the Israelis are seen by the Palestinians.

There is healing yet to be completed. It is very difficult to see beyond the limits we set on our own eyes.

Barah was injured while climbing on electrical pylon. Somebody told him to fly the Palestinian flag on it. He lost both of his arms and legs, caused from a powerful electrical shock. We managed to solve the problem by finding finance sources to bring him to Chicago for special surgery and supply him with new prosthesis legs and arms.

On my 50th birthday a friend of mine asked what gift would I like. I said I didn't know. Shortly after that she heard about a hospital close to Tel Aviv, called Wolfsan hospital, where a doctor has decided to carry out open heart surgery on Palestinian children in need. A reception was held to raise funds for the hospital, where, as a birthday gift to me, my friend bought the right for one heart operation. A three year old child from the Askar camp was there, and he had this operation as a result of my friend's generosity and my birthday!!

I don't think these are drops in the ocean.