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CHW Weekly Stories

Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (CHW)

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Author Archives: Alina Adams

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The Art of Healing

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Alina Adams

Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) – Mount Scopus campus. After a tiring shift, Dr. Momen Abbasi, 29, is working on his latest creation. It’s a cartoon of Little Red Riding Hood staying home, rather than risking infection or infecting her grandma with coronavirus.

“I use my drawings to spruce up what are often dull medical PowerPoint presentations,” says Abbasi from his home in the Beit Tzafafa, a neighborhood in Jerusalem. “They are also useful when showing children and adults parts of their body before a procedure so they know precisely what’s going to happen.”

From an early age, Abbasi was undecided between his passion for art and desire to become a doctor. At Hadassah Hospital, he’s found a home for both his skills.

Abbasi grew up in Silwan, a hillside Arab neighborhood near Jerusalem’s Old City. His father is the managing director of Al-Quds newspaper and his mother – a chemistry teacher. Abbasi loved playing video games and was fascinated by the animations, as he moved his avatars around colorful digital worlds.

“I never studied animation, but started drawing in sixths grade. Using programs like Photoshop and Flash, I gradually learned how to build characters,” he says.

All three of his older siblings went into medicine or dentistry. Abbasi studied medicine in Jordan, and returned in 2015 to work at HMO, where he is an intern with a focus in nephrology.

“My first corona-related drawing was a hat-tip to the medical teams in Hubei, China – a medical knight, fighting the epidemic.”

As the virus came closer to home, so did Abassi’s drawings – trying to advise the public on best practices.

Once we are over the corona crisis, Abbasi hopes to further develop his artistic work to help HMO.

“I love this hospital. Mount Scopus is like one big family. What I’m considering doing with my artwork down the road is to use it with Hadassah medical students – for example by creating flashcards to make nephrology study a little less dry. I also want to deepen the use of drawings with patients. You can see it helps put them at ease.”

Posted in Healthcare, Weekly Story | Tagged healthcare

Safety First in a Brave New World!

Posted on March 25, 2020 by Alina Adams

When 35-year-old Sarah* went into labour, she knew that her delivery would be different from what her family and friends described. Having been quarantined at home for a week, Sarah was brought to the Hadassah Medical Organization (HMO) in Ein Kerem, when she went into labour.

Thanks to the communication between the Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance team and the HMO medical team, a special isolated and fully equipped room was prepared away from regular delivery rooms in anticipation of Sarah’s arrival.

Sarah recalls feeling scared for her life and the life of her baby, as she tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival at the hospital. With the help of two midwives, fully geared-up in protective suits, she successfully gave birth to her beautiful baby boy.

Due to her diagnosis, Sarah was separated from her newborn son and was taken to an isolation unit, where she will remain until she recovers from COVID-19. The support, dedication, and care of her midwife who stayed by her side until the transfer, truly touched Sara.

At this time, Sarah is fighting to become healthy, and is counting the days until she can reunite with her child. While the separation is difficult for both mother and child, Sarah knows that the supportive medical staff at HMO is doing everything they can to ensure her son is healthy and cared for. In the meantime, she receives frequent calls and photo messages from the maternity ward and is regularly updated on her son’s condition by the attending physician. “Thank you so much!” says Sarah in her messages, “You made me so happy and moved by what you are doing for me. I am worried about my baby from afar and feel helpless, but I am so grateful for your concern and devotion. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“This exciting and extraordinary event illustrates how vital communication between the MDA teams arriving from the field and the team at Hadassah is – which is commonplace, but important these days,” said Prof. Zev Rothstein, CEO of Hadassah Medical Organization.

*the name has been changed due to confidentiality.

Posted in Weekly Story, Women | Tagged women

A Recipe for Success!

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Alina Adams

Amidst the current development of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world is experiencing closures of centres, institutions, and non-essential services. Many parents are challenged to keep their children’s routines at home as they would have at daycares.

Jana Malca, Head of the CHW Terry Schwartzfeld Ottawa Daycare Centre in Acco, found the recipe for success during these unsettling times:

“It’s been tough for everyone since the mandatory closure of all educational institutions in Israel, including our very daycare centre. All of us are still learning to adjust to this new reality and trying to cope. I was surprised to receive so many requests from parents, struggling during feeding time with their children at home.

We decided to share our daily menu and feeding schedule so that parents could continue the routine at home with their children. When we heard parents were still struggling with recipes, we also started making videos of the most popular dishes!
So far, we have created step-by-step instructions for the most loved dishes, including our homemade vegetable soup, chicken stir-fry, and fish ball recipes.

We have a special bond with our children and their families. Although we cannot come together at this time, we are always here to support them, and we continue to communicate with them daily. I believe when life presents lemons, make lemonade!”

Posted in Child, Weekly Story | Tagged children

Shamir Medical Centre (Assaf Harofeh) – CHW PICU goes viral!

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Alina Adams

In February 2020, a story about an Israeli parent whose child was saved at The Debbie Eisenberg and Gary Levene Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Shamir Medical Centre (Assaf Harofeh), went viral. The family’s heartwarming experience in the midst of a difficult battle to save an innocent life touched so many people who were compelled to share the story on their social media.

The little boy was rushed to the PICU with obstructed breathing. He was admitted and received a life-saving procedure by the operating doctor who was called from home to deal with this medical emergency. When describing the situation, the boy’s father recalls that he “witnessed the sacrifices that medical professionals make each day and the dedication of countless doctors, nurses, and accompanying staff.”

With unrest surrounding the political elections, the boy’s father remembers feeling relieved as the hateful discourse remained outside the hospital doors. Instead, what he witnessed in The Shamir Medical Centre (Assah Harofeh) was a miracle of diversity, where the importance of attending to every patient transcended politics and religion.

Bemused, the father explained: “Over the course of several nurse shift changes, we had the most incredible people attending to my son’s needs. There was an older woman with a Russian accent, an Orthodox Jewish nurse, and another originally from Morocco. Every single one of them took care of my baby as if he was their own! Witnessing the care and affection my child was shown by the staff in this difficult time has added joy and optimism to our otherwise perilous situation.”

The father was grateful for the high level of medical proficiency and that the team worked together to save his son’s life, but he was particularly astonished by the diversity of the staff, all of whom represent a microcosm of the Israeli society. Seeing Christians, Jews, and Muslims of different backgrounds and views work together and put the lives of children before any external pressures of political or racial discourse, helped him trust the team attending to his son’s life even more so. He expressed that people who do things from their heart, are not defined by their differences, but by their actions and care they show to others.

Although the little boy still had a few more days remaining at the hospital when the story was posted, the father shared his belief in the capable caring hands of the medical staff at The Shamir Medical Centre (Assaf Harofeh). With a renewed faith in humanity, he is encouraged about being part of the diverse and beautiful Israeli society, where people are people and will do anything to bring the best out in each other!

Posted in Healthcare, Weekly Story | Tagged healthcare

Henrietta Szold and How Mother’s Day Became Family Day in Israel

Posted on February 25, 2020 by Alina Adams

On February 25th, children are celebrating ‘Family Day’ at kindergartens, schools, and back at home with loved ones all across Israel. Reflecting on the new family norms in Israel, Family Day has officially replaced Mother’s Day celebrations in the 1990s.

Like everything in Israel, Mother’s Day, was complicated. Originally established by a group of activist women in Jerusalem, Mother’s Day was inaugurated on April 6th, 1947, before the State of Israel was even established. In 1951, The Worker’s Circle in Haifa established its own version of Mother’s Day. Hannah Hushi, the wife of the city’s mayor, Abbu Hushi, was instrumental in getting municipal support for the celebrations. The mayor himself proposed that on this day, “boys and men will participate in household chores and will present gifts to their others.”

Towards the end of 1951, a new children’s newspaper, Ha’aretz Shelanu, also launched its own Mother’s Day initiative. They asked their young readers to suggest a date to honor Mothers across Israel. Many children wanted to honor the memory of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, who died on February 13th, 1945. Although Szold had no children of her own, she was considered a mother figure who dedicated her life to advancing children’s rights and rescuing thousands of orphans from Nazi Europe.

By the 1990s, Mother’s Day was officially replaced with ‘Family Day’ which better reflected the variety of configurations and changes to the Israeli nuclear family. The overall message to children was that everyone was welcomed with love: children with two mothers, or two fathers, or single-parent families — all were to be honored and part of the celebrations.

Wishing all children and families in Israel a happy Family Day filled with love!

Posted in Child, Weekly Story | Tagged children

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  • About CHW
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  • Children
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      • Clara Balinsky (Montreal) Daycare
      • Judy Mandleman Vancouver Daycare
      • Nina Cohen Atlantic Daycare
      • Rose Dunkelman (Toronto) Daycare
      • Sandy Martin Alberta Daycare
      • Terry Schwarzfeld Ottawa Daycare
      • WIZ Kids Program
    • CHW Schools
      • Hadassah Academic College (HAC)
      • Hadassim Children and Youth Village
      • Nahalal Children and Youth Village
      • Neri Bloomfield Academy of Design
      • Netanya Technological High School
    • WIZO Youth Clubs
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  • Healthcare
    • Shamir Medical Centre (Assaf Harofeh)
    • Hadassah Medical Centre
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