AVIYA LANSKY, 19, volunteer at the Rambam Hospital, Haifa, Israel:
“For my national service I wanted to give back to the community. I found about the initiative on the internet, and it sounded like something I would do.
"I firmly believe volunteering is very important. After checking out the program I had no doubts: This amazing experience is for me.
"At school I had excelled in English and math, and this is what I teach at the hospital. The Rambam Hospital in Haifa is very big and my “children” are aged 3 to 22.
"We have a lot of Arabic-speaking children at the hospital, and over my first year I learnt some Arabic. My grammar is terrible, my accent is even worse, but the kids appreciate it. I am happy I get to address them in their own language too. At the end, we create our own language and we understand each other perfectly.
"The hospital has changed me a lot. When I was in school, only one year ago, I was concentrating on grades and life in school, basically on myself. At the hospital you see the big picture. You meet people, you hear their stories, you keep an open mind. The emotional cost is high: You think about these children all the time.
"And you are happy if you can do something for them. Learning new things brings happiness and I see it on their faces. They suffer a lot and it’s hard. But they also have many happy moments, which is great also for me."
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‘Education Without Borders,’ a photo exhibition opening at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva this Monday, shows how Israel is alone among Mideast nations in providing continuing education for all hospitalized Israeli children, including Arabs and other minorities, and Syrian refugees.
Israel’s Ministry of Education mandates that all children hospitalized for more than three days receive continuing education during their stays.
The SASA Setton Kav Or Initiative, a nonprofit working in partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Education and World ORT Kadima Mada, provides formal educational programs in 35 hospitals and medical centers across Israel and develops online platforms and curricula to enable children to continue schooling during lengthy hospital stays.
The exhibition showcases the program as another key difference between Israel and her neighbors in protecting human rights, especially those of children.
Photo: Shahar Azran
