PCRF - Misc. Projects

Misc. Projects

French Surgery Team Continues its work in Gaza
During the first week of July, an 8-member team of doctors and nurses from France arrived in the besieged Gaza Strip to start a week of treating patients and training local doctors in hand and nerve surgery. This is part of an on-going training program initiated by Dr. Christophe Oberlin, in cooperate with the PCRF and the French Consulate in East Jerusalem. The team is working both at Nasser and Shifa Hospitals in Gaza and providing many urgent operations on injured and needy patients, as well as an accreditation hand surgery program for a local team of young surgeons. Prof. Oberlin and his team have led several missions to Gaza over the past few years and the PCRF is honored to be, along with the French government, a sponsoring organization for this humanitarian work.

Hebron kids get free eyeglasses
In the middle of July, the PCRF distributed dozens of eyeglass to poor children in the Hebron district of the West Bank. Over the past 3 years, the The PCRF has held several eyeglass distributions in both the West Bank and Gaza. This is part of our larger effort to assist school children with basic necessities that their families may not be able to afford.

Making life a little better for kids
At the beginning of June, the PCRF joined two kindergarden classes to help celebrate the completion of a successful school year. The end of school party was filled with plenty food and entertainment for the children. The PCRF added to this effort by providing each child with a toy to help encourage them to continue to work hard and enjoy their time at school.

Pediatric Surgery Mission Starts Treatment in Palestine
On May 10, a 3-member team from New Jersey arrived in the West Bank town of Ramallah to start a week of pediatric surgery on Palestinian children with deformities which could not be treated locally. Led by Dr. Saad Saad from Jersey Short Medical Center, the team included also Dr. Khaled Morsi, a pediatric anesthesiologist and Dr. Adam Saad, a resident at Drexal in Philadelphia, the team screened over 60 children and choose over 20 children for surgery. This is the first PCRF mission to Palestine in pediatric surgery. There are dozens of kids waiting for more surgery through future missions as well.

Handicapped children in Gaza get special device
On April 17th & 19th, the PCRF held a special distribution in Gaza to assist poor, handicapped children who have trouble standing. The standing device was donated by the PCRF to over 30 children and allows them to do psysiotherapy while they are in their home.

American nurse trains Palestinians in Nablus, Lebanon
In late March and early April, American Neonatal ICU, E.R, and family Practice nurse practitioner Lynn Gras went to Najah University nursing school in Nablus, and later to Haifa Hospital in the Bourj Al Barajnah refugee camp in Sidon, Lebanon to train nursing students and local nurses in basic life support, advanced cardiac life support, pediatric advanced life support and STABLE training. Ms. Gras has led several mission for the PCRF in the past to both Palestine and Lebanon, including during the siege of Ramallah Hospital in April, 2002.

American pediatric Dental Surgeons work in Palestine
On November 5th, Dr. Daniel Ravel, a pediatric dental surgeon from North Carolina and Dr. Sahar Abughazaleh from Chicago, arrived in the West Bank for two weeks of training local dentists and oral surgeons in various aspects of pediatric dental care. Dr. Ravel has worked with the PCRF several times over the past few years, including a mission to Lebanon's camps. Their lectures were in cooperation and support of the Palestinian Dental Association and the Ministry of Health. Lectures and training programs were held in Ramallah, Jerusalem, Nablus, Jenin, Hebron and Bethlehem.

PCRF distributes School bags for poor kids
Over the past week, the PCRF has distributed hundreds of free book bags for poor children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help them start the school year. The children were screened by PCRF social workers and the most needy of the children were chosen to receive bags. We thank all of our supporters for making this kind of relief work possible.

PCRF Provides Day Care
Services for Kids in Lebanon
In 2007, The PCRF continued it day care services for poor children in Southern Lebanon by sponsoring two separate programs. The first day care center is located in Ein El-Helwi refugee camp in the town of Saida. The camp is titled the "Beit Atfal Asmoud Day Care" and is host to roughly 75 children, who participate in daily scholastic programs and are also offered daily meals.
The second camp is located in Borj Al-Shamali refugee camp in the southern town of Tyre and is host to around 83 children, who participate in similar scholastic programs as the other camp. The PCRF provides much of the materials needed such as books, crayons, art supplies, as well as the meals.

Australian Occupational Therapist Volunteers in Abu Raya
In Late March, Merlin Nathan, an occupational therapist from Adelaide, Australia, went to the Abu Raya rehabiliation Center in Ramallah to provide training for local therapists. Merlin has went on several missions to the West Bank and Gaza over the few years through the PCRF and has been helping to train local personnel in specialized occupational therapy.

PCRF Provides Eye Glasses for Lebanese Children
In 2006, the PCRF launched a humanitarian project in both Palestine and Lebanon to identify and provide every child in need of eyeglasses, but whose families are too poor to provide them, free eyeglasses. In Lebanon, this included children from all of the refugee camps and so far has provided over 100 children free glasses. In 2007, we hope to provide every Palestinian child in Lebanon free eye wear, to better help them in school and to ensure that they can maximize their educational opportunities

The PCRF provides extra assistance in Lebanon
After the recent crisis in Lebanon, The PCRF has increased its efforts and focus to help children that have been affected in Lebanon. The PCRF has held various distributions and emergency relief services over the past several months. In addition to these efforts, The PCRF was able to provide a little extra assistance for four children with medical needs that were unable to be met by their families. The PCRF paid $150 for medical shoes for Hamid Kaewash, $85 for a Brain MRI for Zainab Otham, $100 for blood tests for Doha Attah, and $550 for Jinan Mansours' Vision Aid.

Neonatal ICU nurse retuns to Lebanon
At the end of October, Lynn Gras, a neonatal ICU nurse from San Diego, returned to Lebanon to train doctors and nurses in Hamshiri Hospital. Lynn will be working in Lebanon for one month and will be training E.R. nurses on basic life support, pediatric advanced life support, and adult advanced life support, while also training the ICN and pediatric nurses on neonatal resuscitation. Lynn brought several training books and medical equipment that she will leave behind with the hospital as a donation through the PCRF. This is the fourth time that Lynn has worked with the PCRF in Lebanon. She has also worked in Palestine when Ramallah was under seige in 2002.

The PCRF helps school children across Palestine
In September, the PCRF began distributing school bags filled with school supplies to poor children in each district of the West Bank and Gaza. This project is one of the newest ways that the PCRF is trying to reach out to many children who have been displaced from their homes or simply cannot afford school supplies. The PCRF plans to continue providing school bags to children that need them in the future.

Hebron children get new glasses
On September 10, 2006 the PCRF began the second phase of our effort to provide free eyeglasses to every poor child in need in Palestine. A distribution took place in Hebron in which dozens of children were fitted for eyeglasses through PCRF support. Last month, similar distributions took place in the Gaza Strip. Further distributions will go on in other parts of the West Bank in the coming months.

Kids in Central Gaza Get Glasses, too.
On August 17th, 2006, The PCRF distributed free eyeglasses to poor school kids in Central Gaza. Nearly 60 glasses were given out to children from Deir Al Balah and the surrounding area. This marked the second distribution of glasses in Gaza in August, with another distribution to follow in Northern Gaza. So far, nearly 150 glasses have been given out to children in desperate need.

Poor school kids get eyeglasses in Gaza
On August 13 &14th, the PCRF distributed free eyeglasses to poor children in the Rafah and Khan Younis area of the Gaza Strip. This was the first distribution of eyeglasses to Gaza kids. 64 children got free glasses. Most of these children are too poor to have eyeglasses provided by their own families. The PCRF is working to identify and provide eyeglasses for every poor child in the Gaza Strip and West Bank before the Fall school year starts. The PCRF recently did a project with Al Ibda'a Society in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, providing over 100 children free eyeglasses.

PCRF Donates Eyeglasses for Dheisheh Camp Children
On June 15, 2006, the PCRF bought and distributed over 50 eyeglasses for refugee children in the Dheisheh camp south of Bethlehem. This was part of a new project by the PCRF to provide free eyeglasses for any poor Palestinian child in need of such aid. These glasses are important for children to have a productive educational experience. We have already identified 1,000 children in the Gaza Strip who need eyeglasses and will be providing them by the end of the summer free eye wear in time for school.

American Pediatric Dental Surgeon Trains Physicians in Palestine
From March 25 to April 8, 2006 Dr. Daniel Ravel, a pediatric dental surgeon from North Carolina provided training and treatment for Palestinian dentists from all over the West Bank. This was Dr. Ravel's second trip to the Middle East for the PCRF. In 2005, he provided training and treatment for children in the refugee camps in Lebanon. Dr. Ravel worked with the Palestinian Dental Association and held seminars in Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Qalqilya, Hebron and East Jerusalem for Palestinian dentists as part of an effort to build a pediatric dental surgery program there.

Occupational Therapist Volunteers in Jenin, Gaza
In November, 2005, the PCRF sent Spanish occupational therapist Salvador Cabanilles to Palestine to train local rehabilitation specialists and to treat patients in need of therapy. He worked in the Jenin Refugee Camp with the local community based rehabilitation group, and at Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza City.

The PCRF Lends a Hand to School Kids in Need
In the beginning of September, 2005, The PCRF, in cooperation with Islamic Relief, provided school supplies for 30 needy children in the Central area of the Gaza Strip. Many of these children, who were from the Al Moghraga area, had their homes destroyed by the Israeli army and were left without the basic necessities, including school supplies. The PCRF responded to this crisis by providing the children with school bags filled with trousers, 2 dress shirts, and school supplies. This effort should help relieve some of the suffering for these children, some of which are already suffering from numerous psychological disorders, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

PCRF Sends Neonatal Nurse Back to Lebanon
On April 20th, 2005, Lynn Gras from San Diego traveled to Lebanon for a month of extensive training for Palestinian refugee nurses in Lebanon in areas dealing with neonatal care. Ms. Gras has been to Lebanon and Palestine through the PCRF in the past, including a trip to Ramallah in April, 2002, in which the hospital was surrounded and under siege by IDF soldiers and dead patients had to be buried in the parking lot. Lynn's training will include not only instruction for nurses, but also for GPs and pediatricians. See Lynn's past mission.

Vascular Surgery Team Treats Patients in Ramallah
On February 14th, 2005, a 3-member US team of vascular surgeons traveled to Palestine for a week of vascular surgery on patients at Ramallah Hospital. The team consists of Dr. Munir Zufari, Dr. Edward Mackay and Kevin Dahlgran. All three work in Florida and volunteered to treat patients who otherwise cannot get the care they need.

Pediatric Dental Surgeon Trains Doctors in Lebanon
On January 15, 2005, Dr. Daniel Ravel from North Carolina went to Lebanon through the PCRF to train Palestinian refugee doctors in pediatric dental surgeons in new techniques. Taking with him thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies purchased by the PCRF, Dr. Ravel worked two weeks in Lebanon and then went to Palestine for an evaluation trip to determine what the needs are there for future work.

Gaza Boy Gets Help to Sleep Easier
10-year-old Ahmed Basaleh lives near the Kafar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip. He suffers from severe asthma, but cannot go to the hospital at night due to the fear of traveling near the settlement at night. In July, 2004, The PCRF, through the help of generous donors in San Francisco, was able to purchase a ventilator for this boy, enabling him to sleep at night and not have to travel to the hospital.

PCRF Sends Vascular Surgeon To Nablus
In early June, 2004, the PCRF sent Dr. Munir Zohari, a vascular surgeon from Florida, to Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus to do surgery on local patients in need of treatment otherwise not readily available to them locally. He also trained local surgeons while giving lectures through the Ministry of Health in Nablus.

PCRF Sponsors Education for Handicapped Children in Northern Gaza
In April and May, 2004, the PCRF provided 13 children from Jebalia and Beit Lahya in northern Gaza, who were suffering from Cerebral Palsy and mental retardation, transportation to kindergarden, physiotherapy equipment, toys and teacher's expenses. The purpose of this project was to integrate them with mainstream students. The project continued in the following school year, starting in September. These children are: Asad Alla El Atar,8 yrs; Mohammed El Sultan,9 yrs; Rawaa El Atar,4 yrs; Abed El Rahman Abu Haleima,4 yrs; Bassma El Atar,7 yrs; Sami El Sultan, 6 yrs; Yosif Radwan, 10 yrs; Saleh Radwan,4 yrs; Ismaeil Radwan,11 yrs; Fatma Jumaa, 5 yrs; Abdulla Radwan,7 yrs; Falastine,5 yrs; Ramez, 4 yrs.

Australian Occupational Therapist Returns to Palestine
On February 21, 2004, Australian Occupational Therapist Merlin Nathan traveled to Palestine to run several workshops in occupational therapy in the West Bank. Merlin visited several rehabiliation centers in the West Bank including the Bethlehem Rehabilitation center in Bethlehem, Ameera Basma in Jerusalem, and Abu Riyah in Ramallah where she provided expert training and evaluations. This is the fourth mission to Palestine for Merlin, who was there in October 2003. Merlin also assisted in a ophthalmic surgery mission the week of February 21-28 in Nablus.

The PCRF Provides Rufugee Children with Eye Glasses
In the middle of January, 2004, the PCRF worked with the optical center at the Deir Balah Rehabilitation Center to provide a dozen poor, refugee children with eye glasses. The PCRF has worked with the DBR several times in the past by donating thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies. PCRF hopes to continue this new program with the optical center by providing eye glasses to many more poor children in need.

PCRF Co-sponsors Disabled Day in Tulkarem
On December 3, 2003, the PCRF sponsored, along with the YMCA, The PA Ministry of Social Affairs, Qaqoun Society and the General Union of Disabled Persons a day of cultural activities, group participation and a dinner for over 300 disabled children between the ages of 6-18 at Aladwin School in Tulkarem. This was part of the PCRF's effort to help enable disabled and handicapped Palestinian children access to more open and mainstream cultural and social activities.

Kiwi Occupational Therapist works in Gaza
In mid-July 2003, New Zelander Annie Keiser traveled to Gaza through the PCRF to volunteer at the Wafa Rehabilitation Center in the Eastern part of Gaza City. Annie was part of an ongoing effort by the PCRF to help improve the quality of occupational therapy in the Gaza Strip. Wafa is the main rehabilitation hospital serving nearly all of the 1.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. Annie worked for several weeks there. Earlier in 2003, Merlin Nathan from Australia was at Wafa for the second time, and she will return again in the fall of 2003 to further build the program there.

International Doctors Perform Assessments in Gaza
In October, 2002 the PCRF sent several international doctors to Gaza to do assessment missions there for the sake of preparing teams to work in the future through the PCRF. At the end of September, Dr. Basel Hantash and Dr. Nader Hebela, both from the US, toured Gaza and Bethlehem hospitals with the PCRF to evaluate patients and to identify the needs facing the medical community in Palestine. Both are new members of the medical advisory board. On October 10th, Dr. Paul Schoof, a pediatric cardiac surgeon from Leiden, Holland, arrived in Gaza to see patients at Mohammed Durra Pediatric Hospital, as well as to visit Shifa Hospital to see about leading a team there in 2003. A day later, Dr. Enrico Robotti arrived in Gaza to evaluate the needs for plastic surgery there. He is an Italian surgeon who visited the European Hospital in Khan Younis, where he saw patients, followed by a trip to Shifa Hospital the following day. On October 14, Dr. Giancarlo Crupi arrived in Gaza to evaluate Shifa Hospital's pediatric cardiac surgery needs, as well as to see patients for possible treatment at his hospital (an ongoing project with the PCRF) in Bergamo, Italy. Dr. Crupi also visited Ramallah Hospital on the 17th to see patients. All of these teams are designed to enable surgeons to feel comfortable about working with the PCRF on the ground there, as well as to provide them the firsthand knowledge of the hospitals and patients in Palestine.

Medical Assessment Team Visits Palestine
In late September 2002, the PCRF sent two American doctors to Gaza and the West Bank to assess the current health care situation during the siege, as well as screen children for treatment outside. Dr. Basil Hantash of Stanford and Dr. Nader Habela of Children's Hospital in Philadelphia spent nearly two weeks visiting Shifa Hospital, Mohammed Durra Pediatric Hospital and the European Khan Younis Hospital in Gaza, and Caritas Pediatric Hospital Bethlehem and Hussein Hospital in Beit Jala, as well as the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Ramallah. The also made several visits to injured Palestinian children, as well as screening of cases in the hospitals in an effort to being arranging treatment for them abroad Dr. Joseph Hegleh led the second mission in June and treated many poor patients, as well as teaching young doctors in cataract surgery.

American Doctor Helps Repair Humanitarian Medical Disaster in Gaza, Ramallah
Dr. Jim Lai, an American doctor specializing in emergency medicine worked in Gaza through the PCRF to help train and work with doctors and nurses at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Dr. Lai works at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn and volunteered to go help train and work with doctors and nurses in Gaza early in 2002. He worked in Palestine for nearly two weeks. Dr. Lai worked with the Palestinian Ministry of Health to try to improve the quality of emergency medicine, an important specialty given the crisis on the ground.

In early August Dr. Lai also traveled to Ramallah to work with several institutions on the ground there who provide emergency medical services to the occupied population.

American Trains Nurses in Palestine, Lebanon
In March, Lynn Grass, a registered nurse from San Diego, traveled to Palestine to being a month long mission in which she will provide expert training in neonatal intensive care nursing to four Palestinian institutions in the Middle East. This is the second mission for the PCRF, as she went in 2000 to Lebanon to train nurses as Al-Hamshiry Hospital in Sidon. From March 11-17th, she worked at the new neonatal intensive care unit at Shifa Hospital in Gaza. From March 18-23rd, she worked at the Caritas Pediatric Hospital in Bethlehem. For following week, she trained nurses for the Ministry of Health at the Ibn Sina nurse’s college in Ramallah, where she worked during the first week of the assault providing treatment to injured patients. In early April, she traveled to Lebanon, where she was to work for 10 days at the Haifa Hospital in the Bourj Al Barajnah refugee camp in Lebanon. This project follows a request by the Minister of Health to the PCRF in Gaza to assist in training in ICU for nurses, especially for small babies. Read more about Lynn's mission at PCRF in the News.

PCRF Sends EMT to Train Ambulance Drivers in Ramallah
In early March 2002, the PCRF, in cooperation with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), sent Shane Debrowski, an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) from Canada, back to Ramallah to begin a six-month training program for PRCS EMS personnel. This was the second trip to Palestine for Shane, who went through the PCRF to Ramallah in the summer of 2001 for a three-week program. This project cames at a particularly dangerous time for emergency medical personnel in Palestine, with more than 135 paramedics and other personnel being injured, with at least five killed in March alone. Shane had been advised to use great caution in doing his work with the PRCS.

Team of Trauma Specialists Train Mental Health Professionals in West Bank and Gaza
In late August and early September 2001, a six American and one Dutch mental health professionals held two separate five-day seminars in Ramallah for Bir Zeit University School of Public Health, and the Gaza Mental Health Clinic. The team provided training for dozens of Palestinian mental health professionals from many governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions in the areas of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). While there are over three million Palestinians living under harsh political and economic conditions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, there are only 12 psychiatrists and less than 50 mental health workers (psychologists, therapists and clinical social workers). The purpose of this mission was to help address the issue of children suffering from is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Due to the extremely violent conditions that children are living under there, this project was needed and will be supported again in 2002.

EMT Specialist Trains PRCS Ambulance Drivers in Ramallah
In June 2001, the PCRF sent Shane Debrowski, an Emergency Medical Technician from Canada to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Ramallah to help upgrade their emergency medical services. Due to the Israeli siege and closure of much of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it is more important than ever to provide expert first-aid training for Palestinian ambulance drivers who risk their lives to transport injured and sick patients to hospitals. Many patients have lost their lives due to Israeli closures over the past few months, including many who were in ambluances, but were prevented from crossing an IDF checkpoint to get to a hospital.

Nursing Training
In June, 2000, the PCRF sent Lynn Gras, a registered nurse, to Al-Hamshiry Hospital in Sidon, Lebanon to train local nurses in neonatal intensive care. This is a new area of treatment for refugees in Lebanon and Lynn provided much needed training and experience for local nurses and doctors. She also provided certificates in providing lifesaving care for small and new born babies.