Wednesday, November 11, 2009

'To save a child is to save a world'- the work of Save a Child's Heart


On 4 January 2008 in Iraq, Donya was born with a large hole between the lower chambers of her heart, and thickened muscles in the right ventricle. She was also diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), which is a very large fissure between the upper chambers of her heart. All this meant that she urgently needed extensive cardiac surgery to repair her heart, which her home community could not provide.

Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) is an Israeli-based international humanitarian project that works to help children like Donya. Their mission is to improve the quality of paediatric cardiac care for children in developing countries who suffer from heart disease; and to create centres of quality medical work in these regions. SACH is devoted to the idea that every child deserves the best medical treatment available, regardless of that child’s nationality, religion, ethnicity, gender or financial situation.

Motivated by the age-old Jewish tradition of Tikkun Olam – literally translated as ‘repairing the world’, SACH contributes to the futures of children from around the globe by mending their hearts regardless of their origin and, in turn, uplifting their families and societies.

The variety of treated children and their origins is extensive and astounding, and one can browse through endless such stories on the SACH website. Since 1995, Save a Child’s Heart has treated more than two thousand children, from infancy to 18 years old, and from more than 30 countries. 40% of the children are from Africa; 49% from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Iraq; 4% from Moldova, Russia and former USSR and 7% from China, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Yet more than 1000 children on SACH’s waiting list are still in need of this life-saving surgery. SACH primarily provides the life-saving cardiac surgery for these patients, and their ultimate goal is to create centres of competence in developing countries, where children can be treated in their own communities and by their own medical professionals. SACH therefore provides medical personnel with in-depth post-graduate training in all facets of paediatric cardiac care. Training is held under the auspices of the Sackler School of Medicine of the Tel Aviv University and the Centre for International Cooperation of the Foreign Ministry of Israel. Since its inception in 1995, SACH has trained 50 physicians and nurses from China, Ethiopia, Moldova, Nigeria, the Palestinian Authority, Eritrea, Kenya, Russia, Vietnam and Zanzibar at the Wolfson Medical Centre.

Mikhaela Levitas, A University of Cape Town student, spent time volunteering at SACH this year. “I fell in love with the kids and with the organization,” she says, describing how she helped care for the children on a daily basis. “There are children from all over the world - the Palestinian Territories, China, Ghana, Nigeria ... a Palestinian child can get operated on by a Jewish doctor. In medicine, there are no boundaries to saving a life. ” she adds.

It is through such extensive and intensive work, training and dedication that SACH manages to save so many children’s hearts. On 1 January this year, three days before her second birthday, Donya was operated on by doctors from Save a Child’s Heart in Israel. By the time she returned to Iraq in February, her heart had healed completely and she began to live a normal and healthy life.

For more information please visit SACH’s website: http://www.saveachildsheart.org/

The SACH International Photographic Exhibition will be in Cape Town:
Presented by the SACH Foundation and the Western Province Zionist Council
Artscape Theatre, Foyer 1
8 to 14 February 2010 (Valentine’s Day)

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