Hearts and minds – a new definition

Ahmed, sat up in bed and playing just days after his heart operation

AHMED crossed into Israel from Jordan late evening on December 6. The three-year-old came from Iraq with four other children, but he stood out immediately to medics because he had blue lips and blue feet – in fact, he was getting to look blue all over.

This was serious, potentially life-threatening, as it pointed to increased episodes of cyanosis, where the heart cannot produce the oxygen that the body needs. The decision was taken the following morning to admit to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon for his first examinations. Along with him went his 21-year-old mother Hezhan. Despite her presence, Ahmed was very agitated, to the point where he was screaming during those initial examinations. However, by December 22, he was considered to be well-enough prepared, and he was taken down for replacement heart surgery. So far, he seems to be doing well. As of Tuesday, he was sitting up in bed playing and even managing some walking with ever-present assistance from Hezhan.

The sharper-eyed readers among you will have spotted something even more remarkable in this extraordinary story. Ahmed is just one of scores of Muslim children from areas like Iraq, Gaza, The West Bank and Jordan, who have received highest quality and often life-saving surgery and medical attention from Israeli doctors at hospitals in Israel. Over the past few years, we have perhaps become more used to associating Israel with acts of war, particularly where its Arabic neighbours are concerned, so perhaps this project flies in the face of such a convention.

It is all part of the work of the charity Shevet Achim, whose name translates from Hebrew as “brothers sitting together”, and comes from Psalm 133: “How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity … for there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forevermore”. Its mandate in the Middle East is to give children with major and complex heart defects the opportunity for corrective and life-saving heart surgery by specialist medical teams in Israeli hospitals, and to build bridges of reconciliation in the war-torn region.

Launched in Wales in March last year, Shevet Achim UK’s  primary aim is to raise public awareness of the work of its partner in Jerusalem, which seeks to offer Arab children in The Middle East. Since then, the charity’s UK arm has primarily used speaking engagements and presentations to explain the logistics of its unique work in saving lives, along with the equally powerful aim of encouraging more understanding between people who come from very different backgrounds and traditions in this historically tense region of the world. In the relatively short time that Shevet Achim UK has been registered as a charity, it has been able to provide vital sponsorship through donations for a number of life-saving heart operations similar to Ahmed’s, which was paid for through the UK arm’s fundraising.

Volunteers with the small, Jerusalem-based Shevet Achim team seek out Arab babies and children with severe heart defects from throughout The Middle East, and then arrange for their screenings by Israeli heart specialists to assess their suitability for corrective, life-saving heart surgery. Should they be considered potential candidates for such surgery, the children, accompanied by a parent or close relative, are invited to Israel for treatment. Depending on the complexity of their condition, a child’s stay in Israel can vary from a couple of weeks to several months. All paperwork, visa documentation, travel arrangements, accommodation, transportation and hospital costs are arranged and provided by Shevet Achim volunteers.  They also visit, care for, entertain feed and provide essential support for the families.

The screenings, surgeries and treatment are provided by Israeli medical teams working with Save a Child’s Heart, a group of surgeons, specialists and doctors who raise their own money to cover expenses and theatre costs, often operating and treating the children during their holiday or leisure time.

Shanaw was one of the first children sponsored by Shevet Achim UK.  She came from Iraq to Israel for surgery in September 2008.  A vivacious and intelligent young lady, Shanaw obviously really loved life, and it was a great pleasure for some of those involved with Shevet Achim UK to meet with her and her aunt a couple of days before her surgery.  There was no sign of fear or anxiety as this lively 10-year-old chatted and laughed with her visitors.  On the day of her surgery, she seemed to be enjoying all the attention that was being directed her way, and she went off to the operating theatre waving and smiling to everyone she passed on the way.  Her surgery was a great success, and she returned home to Iraq within a very short time of being discharged with a healthy heart.

Along with helping to provide such medical assistance, Shevet Achim UK sets out to inform people about the bridges that are being built in the form of cross-border communication and reconciliation.  This is being achieved by walls of hostility and misunderstanding being breached and dismantled through work that brings together people from historically opposing sides.  As a consequence, the work of Shevet Achim can go some way to repairing and changing hearts and lives, both physically and personally, in this part of the world. It is uplifting and inspiring to see what a small group of people with such aims can achieve. Shevet Achim UK is now proving that men, women and children in Wales, and in the rest of the UK, that they each can make a difference. It demonstrates that we all are capable of quite literally saving someone somewhere.

For further information, please visit www.shevet.org or e-mail uk@shevet.org.