"There’s an end to every storm. Once all the trees have been uprooted. Once all the houses have been ripped apart. The wind will hush, the clouds will part, the rain will stop, the sky will clear in an instant. But only then, in those quiet moments after the storm, do we learn who was strong enough to survive it."
-Grey's Anatomy
Save A Child's Heart is the end of the storm. The light at the end of tunnel. The surgery necessary for life to go on. SACH is helping people survive, and helping them realize that they are strong enough to continue.
The organization that I fell in love with before I came to Israel is something more than I could ever imagine. It has been an honor to be a part of something that is as unique; and culturally, racially and stereotypically defying as SACH; and it is only the beginning. Now that I am a part of the SACH family, I cannot imagine this organization not being a part of my life.
From the first day that I walked in, I was sent to have an orientation of some sort with the occupational therapist Jade. I sat down next to her and the next thing I knew I had a 4 year old Kenyan back into my lap. I looked at jade with I'm sure a look of tentativeness and happiness and she looked back and simply said "this is Stano." I'm not sure if he trusted me because I let him come to me, or if it was because I was sitting next to a familiar person, but his first step of acceptance encouraged others to do the same. That first day, I met all 21 children. Some from Kenya, some from Zanzibar and others from Ethiopia. Between the kids alone their were three official country languages being spoken; English, Amharic, and Swahili. And then when you throw village dialects into the mix and the Israelis who work in the house, there can be five people in the same room who all speak different languages. And yet they all seem to communicate with each other. It's one of the reasons that SACH is like no place else in the world.
Now it might make sense to give you a little background on SACH. SACH is an international non-profit organization that utilizes various methods to provide life saving heart surgeries for children from developing countries all over the world.
Method 1: SACH brings doctors and nurses from developing countries with a lack of pediatric cardiac care to Israel to train them to assess, treat and monitor children with heart disease. SACH has trained pediatric cardiologists from 17 countries and is currently training the first pediatric cardiac surgeon of Ethiopia. Dr Yayu has been in Israel training for 3.5 years and will complete his training in about 18 months.
Method 2: SACH doctors go on medical missions to various countries to treat children and hold clinics to assess children who need to come to Israel for surgery.
Method 3: SACH brings children who need life saving heart surgery to Holon,Israel to live in the SACH Children's Home while they receive treatments and rehabilitate. These children usually come in groups from their home country for an average of 3 months. Each group comes with a nurse that speaks the native language and English who will care for the children and help translate. Every child 5 and under comes with an adult, usually their mother. Every child over 5 comes by themselves and is cared for by the nurses and the other mothers in the house.
Method 1: SACH brings doctors and nurses from developing countries with a lack of pediatric cardiac care to Israel to train them to assess, treat and monitor children with heart disease. SACH has trained pediatric cardiologists from 17 countries and is currently training the first pediatric cardiac surgeon of Ethiopia. Dr Yayu has been in Israel training for 3.5 years and will complete his training in about 18 months.
Method 2: SACH doctors go on medical missions to various countries to treat children and hold clinics to assess children who need to come to Israel for surgery.
Method 3: SACH brings children who need life saving heart surgery to Holon,Israel to live in the SACH Children's Home while they receive treatments and rehabilitate. These children usually come in groups from their home country for an average of 3 months. Each group comes with a nurse that speaks the native language and English who will care for the children and help translate. Every child 5 and under comes with an adult, usually their mother. Every child over 5 comes by themselves and is cared for by the nurses and the other mothers in the house.
At the current time in the house there are:
2 Ethiopian children
1 Ethiopian mother
1 Ethiopian nurse
2 Zanzibarian children
2 Zanzibarian mothers
1 Zanzibarian nurse
3 Kenyan children
2 Kenyan mothers
1 Kenyan Social Worker
9 Tanzanian children
6 Tanzanian mothers
2 Tanzanian nurses
1 Tanzanian doctors
3 Romanian children
3 Romanian mothers
1 Chinese child
1 Chinese mother
3 Dr's in training
2 full-time volunteers
2 Ethiopian children
1 Ethiopian mother
1 Ethiopian nurse
2 Zanzibarian children
2 Zanzibarian mothers
1 Zanzibarian nurse
3 Kenyan children
2 Kenyan mothers
1 Kenyan Social Worker
9 Tanzanian children
6 Tanzanian mothers
2 Tanzanian nurses
1 Tanzanian doctors
3 Romanian children
3 Romanian mothers
1 Chinese child
1 Chinese mother
3 Dr's in training
2 full-time volunteers
Phew. Yes, it’s a lot of people in one house, a lot of languages in one house, and a lot of cultures in one house. And yet, it all works out much smoother than one would assume.
When the buzzer rings on the front gate and you push it open to walk in in the morning, and you have five kids running to give you hugs, you know that you don’t need language to reach them
"The best part about compassion is that when you are in its presence there is no need for conventional learning: it seeps directly into your veins and travels straight to the heart. No language barrier can stop that movement. With each interaction we had in the hospitals, our hearts grew fuller and we grew richer from the experience because even though intellectual intelligence does not transfer flawlessly from brain to brain, emotional intelligence can do so, from heart to heart."
A Language That Requires No Words-Kelly Segar & Rachel Werner
These children at SACH need compassion, attention and stimulation, and my role is to provide all three. I spend the morning with them, playing, laughing and attempting to keep them busy with the same five toys and cabinet of art materials. At 12, the whole house eats lunch. They organize themselves by country and eat a meal cooked by the mothers from their respective countries. After "Kula" (meal or eat) they go to take a "Kulala" (nap or sleep). They sleep from around 1 to 4. While they are taking their Kulala, I go to the office and begin my administrative work for the day. My work has been a mix of typical office assistant work with child life work and grant research. Then in the afternoon before I leave for the night, I get to wake the kids up from their nap and see them and hang out. It is the perfect way to spend the last half an hour before I leave for the day.
As Derek Shepherd said, "It’s a beautiful day to save lives."
Being in the day to day activity at the house, it is so incredible easy to get caught up in the personalities and games and drama; however when you take a step back and look at how many amazing things this organization is doing, it's incredible. These children that are thriving, would not survive without the help of Save A Child's Heart. Every day is a beautiful day to save the lives of these beautiful children at the SACH house.
For more information about Save A Child's Heart please visit saveachildsheart.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saveachildsheart/
instagram: saveachildsheart
Also prepare yourselves for tons of pictures and posts about these little love bugs :)
When the buzzer rings on the front gate and you push it open to walk in in the morning, and you have five kids running to give you hugs, you know that you don’t need language to reach them
"The best part about compassion is that when you are in its presence there is no need for conventional learning: it seeps directly into your veins and travels straight to the heart. No language barrier can stop that movement. With each interaction we had in the hospitals, our hearts grew fuller and we grew richer from the experience because even though intellectual intelligence does not transfer flawlessly from brain to brain, emotional intelligence can do so, from heart to heart."
A Language That Requires No Words-Kelly Segar & Rachel Werner
These children at SACH need compassion, attention and stimulation, and my role is to provide all three. I spend the morning with them, playing, laughing and attempting to keep them busy with the same five toys and cabinet of art materials. At 12, the whole house eats lunch. They organize themselves by country and eat a meal cooked by the mothers from their respective countries. After "Kula" (meal or eat) they go to take a "Kulala" (nap or sleep). They sleep from around 1 to 4. While they are taking their Kulala, I go to the office and begin my administrative work for the day. My work has been a mix of typical office assistant work with child life work and grant research. Then in the afternoon before I leave for the night, I get to wake the kids up from their nap and see them and hang out. It is the perfect way to spend the last half an hour before I leave for the day.
As Derek Shepherd said, "It’s a beautiful day to save lives."
Being in the day to day activity at the house, it is so incredible easy to get caught up in the personalities and games and drama; however when you take a step back and look at how many amazing things this organization is doing, it's incredible. These children that are thriving, would not survive without the help of Save A Child's Heart. Every day is a beautiful day to save the lives of these beautiful children at the SACH house.
For more information about Save A Child's Heart please visit saveachildsheart.com
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saveachildsheart/
instagram: saveachildsheart
Also prepare yourselves for tons of pictures and posts about these little love bugs :)
Feisal from Zanzibar and Rahela from Romania both celebrated their first birthdays at the SACH house this week!