My name is Dana. I am a volunteer on behalf of Latet Tikva in hospitals throughout Israel. I go from one children’s ward to another, together with more volunteers, and try to do one thing: to give the child patients hope.
Sometimes we come with clowns. Sometimes we are with singers, football players, and TV personalities. We never come empty-handed. We always have something: gifts and sweets. It is most painful to me to see the children’s faces on the holidays. They so much want to be like everybody else, to go out and have fun, but they cannot every time. That’s right, often the angels from Latet Tikva organize holiday camps precisely on special days – Purim, Passover, summer vacation. But there are also days of routine.
Independence day arrives. Hundreds of these children so want to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the establishment of our home – the state of Israel. They want to go for amusement, to participate in performances, go to a barbecue with the family. But they’re stuck in the hospital. Sitting in wheelchairs, fighting pain, maneuvering from one treatment to another.
We shall try – as always – not to neglect them. We’ll entertain them. We’ll try to help them forget the pain. That is our pleasure, the volunteers. To do our best for these children.
Another thing: every year before the end of Independence Day, the traditional ceremony is held to award the Israel Prize. It is important for me to say that as far as we are concerned, including everyone who sees the journey of suffering made by these little angels in the hospitals, every such child – fighting a disease and smiling at the world – deserves the Israel Prize. They are the real heroes of our society! Be healthy! And of course happy holiday to our country!
