By Smadar Shiffman | Project Leader, Volunteer
Dear Supporters and Friends,
Thanks to your support, this quarter we were able to fund 29 minibus trips from Gaza to hospitals in Jerusalem. We continue to work hard to enlist volunteer drivers to meet the growing demand for our help in transporting patients from Gaza to hospitals in Israel.
Ronnie, one of our volunteers, recently shared her experience driving a patient and her family to Tel-Hashomer hospital (translated from Hebrew):
It was Saturday evening. I passed the city of Jaljulia. The mosque with the golden dome shined as the sun was setting. When I took the last turn, it was already completely dark. The road ahead was narrow and at its end I could see the lights of the border crossing post. I knew that I would need to find ‘my family’ in one of the cars parked in the darkness along the roadside. We have been driving this family, a mother and her young daughter, for four months to receive care at Tel-Hashomer hospital. The family’s life had changed dramatically when the daughter suffered a head injury. Since the injury, mother and daughter had to part from their family, from the kids at home, from work every week, from Saturday night to Thursday. The mother, a sharp and energetic young woman, left her job in order to care for her daughter. As the mother and daughter headed to my car, the father smiled at them with concern. I reminded my passengers to buckle up.
We have known each other long enough so that politeness made way to direct language without pretense. The mother told me about the gratitude she felt for the medical care and its good results, and also about her fear of going through the border crossing and entering the enemy’s country. How could they entrust what was most precious to them with foreigners they typically met only during conflict? The fear returned every time we passed through the crossing. I could see the fear on their faces. When my car was being inspected, I stood by people who were waiting to cross. Someone burst with rage at the guards. A guard with a loaded gun arrived instantly. The mother turned to me and said “it is dangerous for you, you cannot stand here, something might happen.” “What are you talking about?” I replied, “I am here with you.” I thought that I should never be afraid of people.
Next to us was a line of women wearing hijab, eager to talk to forget about the long wait. My foreign look, uncovered head, and broken Arabic sparked a lively discussion. Soon, life stories unraveled, pain and troubles were described with an intensity mixed with hope. I heard that a little boy who was running around near us had suffered injuries to his arms, legs, and shoulders in a car accident. However, now the boy was well enough to playfully put a toy crown on the head of ‘my’ girl. Maybe in a week or two she would be out of her wheelchair and run around like the boy.
The mother said, “I feel like I am an emotional roller coaster. On the one hand there are warm meetings with the people, the volunteers and the staff at the hospital, where they treat my daughter as if she were a princess. And then, there is the tension and stress of the encounters with the formal institutions.” “I understand your pain” I said. “We are so small when we face the establishment, but we will not give up our personal solidarity.” “You are optimistic people” she said.” When they departed at Tel-Hashomer hospital the mother said to me “you are a hero.” “You are the hero” I replied, but the biggest hero was the beautiful quiet girl in the wheelchair. She rolled her wheelchair toward the ward with a smile on her face. She was on the way to conquer the physical limitations, obstacles, and fear. And so were we.
The work of our organization provides opportunities for Israelis and Palestinians to get to know each other. This letter includes a link to a story about a friendship between one of our volunteers and a patient’s family. The story, which was aired on Dutch Public Broadcasting, demonstrates how friendships can evolve amid conflict. Thank you for supporting our work.
Grateful,
Yuval Roth and The Road to Recovery US volunteer team
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