It is natural and humane to want to help others in need. But when the desire to help comes from hospitalized children wanting to encourage children who, due to war, were evacuated from their homes to hotels in a strange city – well that is just plain special.
Gift packages prepared by Rambam patients for the evacuated children. Photography: Rambam HCC and the BRACHA Education Center at Rambam.
The Swords of Iron war has displaced thousands of Israeli families. Uprooted from their homes in Southern and Northern Israel, they have taken refuge with loved ones or in specially assigned hotels in safe areas. Young patients hospitalized in the Ruth Rappaport Children’s Hospital at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam) in Haifa, Israel surprised everyone in their self-appointed mission. They looked beyond their own health problems and decided to do something special for evacuated children residing in hotels in the Haifa area.
The children being treated at the Pediatric Psychiatry Unit wanted to stand in solidarity with the war-displaced children in the Haifa area. They prepared gift packages that included messages of support, care, and solidarity, and added friendship bracelets and handmade cookies. The activity was initiated by the teachers of Rambam’s BRACHA Education Center (a school operated under the auspices of Israel’s Ministry of Education) and employees at Rambam who were themselves evacuated. These evacuated hospital staff members also joined in helping to distribute the gifts.
It is crucial to support, encourage, and embrace the evacuated families with love, especially innocent children dealing with challenging and complex situations. In this case, the healing went both ways. The smiles on the faces of the children preparing the care packages, of those receiving their gift packages, were genuinely heartwarming.
