We are excited about the potential for a project helping families-in-need.
F.A.R. is being asked to underwrite the startup. We hope you can help.

FAR's energy and resources are now being focused on raising funds for a Children’s Lodge in Jerusalem. This facility is to be used to accommodate Palestinian children and family members accompanying them to treatments for cancer and blood diseases at Hadassah University Hospital. Travel for these families is uncertain due to checkpoints and frequent delays. This makes keeping their schedule of appointments a real problem as the schedule is determined by the medical needs.

Dr. Michael Weintraub, the Director of the Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department at Hadassah University Hospital Ein-Kerem, F.A.R.’s partner in the project, suggested the consturction of a facility in East Jerusalem where the families could stay comfortably and keep the scheduled appointments needed for progress in dealing with the disease.

Project Goal

The goal of the proposed project is to provide short-term lodging assistance to Palestinian families of children with cancer who come to Hadassah for treatment.

Background

Current treatment for childhood cancer is successful in curing 80% of the children. Achieving cure requires intensive treatment that combines surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and each comes with a price of significant hardships and side effects. The process of treatment is long and arduous for both the child and his/her family. The average duration of treatment is about one year, requires multiple hospital visits, some for short outpatient treatments, and some for longer in-patient admissions, and adherence to a strict treatment regimen are crucial for success.

One of the major problems faced by families of children with cancer is the necessity of staying close to the Cancer Center, sometimes located hundreds of miles from home, for periods that may last from days to months. Apart from the obvious disruption these extended periods of absence from home of the child and parent(s) may cause to family structure, they pose a significant financial challenge that comes on top of already strained circumstances when at least one parent must quit his/her job to be with the ill child.

One of the solutions developed for this problem worldwide has been the creation of lodging facilities for children with cancer and their families, exemplified by the American version – the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). A RMH is typically situated a short driving distance from the Cancer Center, can accommodate up to 20 families in small 1-2 bedroom units, provides a kitchen for families to cook simple meals, has in-house staff 24 hours a day for assistance to families and for maintenance, and provides regular and off-hours transportation to the hospital. The stay at the typical lodging facility is provided free of charge and the costs of the project are provided by charities.

Ronald McDonald type houses have become prevalent mainly in countries with a large geographic area, in which children are referred to Cancer Centers hundreds of miles from their homes, and where daily travel from home to hospital and back is not possible. Thus, facilities are common in – among others - the U.S.A., Canada, and Germany. In small countries such as Israel, most families do not need to drive long distances to the hospital, and the need has been less pressing.

The Situation in Jerusalem and at Hadassah

The Department of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Hadassah serves as a referral center for children with cancer from the Greater Jerusalem area, as well as for children from other parts of Israel. Importantly, it also serves as the referral center for children from the Palestinian Authority who have cancer or who require bone marrow transplantation for cancer or for severe disorders of the blood and immune system.

As with all children with these diseases, the Palestinian patients and their families must travel to the hospital frequently. Because of the unique circumstances in which the Israeli and Palestinian societies interact, travel becomes a major, sometimes overriding issue. These Palestinian families face very difficult problems in terms of: 1) Finances: A return trip from Hebron to Jerusalem, for example – cheap by Western standards – may be prohibitive for these families, sometimes the equivalent of a day's earning. 2) Travel restrictions: Although actual travel distances from most West Bank towns to Jerusalem are short, realities (road blocks, obtaining permits) turn these into significant journeys. For example, Nablus is less than 50 miles away but requires 2-3 hours of travel time due to roadblocks. Similarly Gaza, 120 miles away, requires at least 4-5 hours travel time.

The obstacles to rapid and efficient travel are physically and emotionally difficult for the children and parents, put an additional strain on families already dealing with the frightening reality of childhood cancer, and also place the children at significant risks of missing treatment appointments and late for treatment of potentially life-threatening complications.

This difficult situation could be solved almost completely by the availability of a short-term lodging facility in Jerusalem, or in other words, a small – Ronald McDonald type - house.

The political and municipal realities in Jerusalem, where land purchase and ownership rights are potentially inflammatory, may make an attempt at actually buying land and building a high-profile project – an obstacle to the success of the project.

The Children's Lodge

A more modest approach is more along the lines of renting a small house in an East Jerusalem neighborhood (close enough to the hospital and in a language/culture appropriate and friendly environment for the families) that would accommodate 4-10 families for stays of one night up to a week, with a small kitchen, and with its own vehicle for transport to the hospital. “The Children's Lodge" – the name given to this initiative – would go a long way in alleviating the hardships described above.

We are impressed and quite moved by Dr. Weintraub’s care in explaining the physical and psychological strains on the Palestinian children and their families as they deal with their therapy to literally save their young lives. We also believe that there is a broader purpose in supporting “The Children’s Lodge” for Americans and all others who want to do anything we can to help bring peace to the people of Israel and Palestine. In a conflict in which fear and hatred on both sides capture the headlines, “The Children’s Lodge” project reflects care for the most vulnerable of the people in the conflict—the children--by a devoted Israeli physician. We are joining to support his efforts, and we invite you to do so too.