Recently, Humans without Borders (HwB) organised a fun day for 225 people – the families they drive – at the Murad Resort in Beit Sahur. Yael Moav, a volunteer from HwB said:

It is difficult to put into words the sheer joy and happiness that the day produced.

When a child is seriously ill, the whole family is affected, the child, the parents and the siblings. The family operates within a state of constant stress and anxiety. Often their livelihood is affected, because the father is unable to work or because the Palestinian Authority refuses to cover all expenses forcing the family to pay for medications and of course for transportation, within Palestine, to the checkpoint.

Once a year, the parents, siblings and sick children are invited to forget their difficulties and anxieties, poverty and the humiliation of constant conflict with the PA. Every family here has a sick child, people must not criticize us for this day in which we allow ourselves to enjoy life.

And I had one word stuck in my head throughout the day and even after, “happiness”.

Listen to a podcast featuring Yael Moav here. 

Road to Recovery (RTR) volunteer, Nili Gardin, shared her experience coordinating and driving for RTR:

Coordinating rides is no simple task. There is a feeling of urgency that overwhelms you, to help someone in trouble who has to get home, quickly and right now. When it succeeds, and I find a solution and manage to help, I have an enormous sense of fulfillment, but sometimes I get to a point where I have to give up. This can lead to a real emotional roller coaster of feelings and I have to remind myself: “Do this only once a week to avoid burn out, otherwise you won’t be able to carry on.”

Read the full interview with Nili Gardin here.

Learn more about Project Rozana’s Wheels of Hope program.

When Will to Wheel offered to donate 100 wheelchairs to Project Rozana, we recognized an excellent opportunity to provide equipment to people in need.

We contacted our colleagues at Green Land Society for Health Development (GLSHD), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health sector in Palestine. GLSHD has a rehabilitation initiative that includes the exchange of rehabilitation equipment for patients.

Images: the arrival and distribution of the wheelchairs in Hebron by GLSHD.

Dr Akram Amro, CEO, Green Land Society for Health Development:

The donation of the 100 wheelchairs forms the basis of our newest initiative “Hand in Hand”, which lends rehabilitative home-care equipment to enable sick, disabled, elderly and recuperating patients from the Hebron region to live at home.

The wheelchairs were delivered directly to GLSHD in Hebron on 24th May. The chairs are now being distributed to those who need them.

In the words of Diyaa, from the family of one of the wheelchair recipients:

It helped me help my dad. Now I can put him in the sun every time he wants…”

The Rev. Anne Derse is Deacon at St. John’s Norwood Episcopal Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland and is the Minister for Community Engagement. Working to create a strong, welcoming, caring and giving community, Anne went to St. John’s after a 31-year career as a diplomat, living abroad in Trinidad, Singapore, Korea, the Philippines, Belgium, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Lithuania. She studied French and Linguistics at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, completed an MA in International Relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and joined the Foreign Service in 1981. She settled in Bethesda, Maryland, with her family in 2012, after retiring from the State Department.

ELLEN SHIMBERG

DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS USA

Project Rozana is pleased to welcome Ellen Shimberg to our USA team as Director of Development & Communications.

Ellen Shimberg, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is new to Project Rozana. She is the Director Development & Communications for PRUSA and she brings over 20 years’ experience in the non-profit space. She has a strong background in development/fundraising and strategic operations with particular emphasis on marginalized and under-served communities. Ellen is a Board member and active volunteer with Heroic Gardens, a female-led Veteran support organization, and Disability Pride, Pa., a disability rights organization. In her spare time, she enjoys travel, reading, cooking, and music.

ROSEMARY CARRICK

DIRECTOR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT & PARTNERSHIPS AUSTRALIA

We are delighted to announce that long-term staff member, Director of Development at PR Australia, has taken on a new role as Director Strategic Development & Partnerships.

Rosemary is a skilled writer of proposals and grants, and her new role requires her to identify and develop funding opportunities with a wide range of stakeholders, including corporate and institutional partners, non-government organisations, trusts and foundations and government agencies. Rosemary will be leading Project Rozana’s submission to the Australian government for recognition as an international aid organization that can apply for significant government funding grants. Our affiliates will undoubtedly utilise her talents to support their own fundraising efforts.

WAJDI BKEIRAT

SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER ISRAEL

Wajdi Bkeirat is a health professional currently working as a health consultant with several NGOs to build their capacities in managing projects in the Middle East and especially in Palestine and Israel. He has joined Project Rozana Israel to specifically focus on the vital task of monitoring and evaluation our programs. Wajdi has managed several health projects, worked with Palestinian and Israeli ministries of health, hospitals, health professionals and built capacities of local NGOs. He has achieved many successes in the health field in Israel, Jordan and Palestine with several research papers, health trainings and common action plans to improve health and wellbeing.