PCRF Personnel

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dear Friend:

Sadly, as each day passes, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) is confronted with yet another human tragedy -- the injury or maiming of a Palestinian child, a child whose injuries are so severe that they require the advanced medical care that we are uniquely able to provide.
As you browse through the PCRF's web site, you will discover the agony and pain of parents whose children have been injured or maimed. You will discover the extensive injuries inflicted on children and the brutality of an oppressive occupation. Such has been the fate of the Palestinian people.

The PCRF has dedicated itself to helping the children victimized by war and violence. We came into existence to help save the lives of young Palestinian children who were injured or maimed during the first Palestinian Intifada which erupted in December 1987.

Unfortunately, the Al-Aqsa Intifada of October 2000, has been more ferocious than the first Intifada and has resulted in a startling large number of casualties especially in proportion to the size of the Palestinian population which resides in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

As I write this message to you, the number of Palestinians injured has surpassed 15,000 people and, tragically, that number is climbing daily. A United Nations Special Rapporteur who recently conducted a mission to Palestine found that a "full 40%" of the wounded were children.

Since our mission is to help provide free of charge lifesaving medical care, not available in Palestine or the Arab World, to injured and needy Palestinian children, imagine the new and overwhelming responsibility that has been thrust upon us.

Since its establishment in 1991, the PCRF has expanded its activities, to the extent its resources permitted, to meet the rising and varied needs. We now have four main service programs. These are:

Provide free medical care in the United States and Europe to injured and seriously ill Palestinian (and other Arab) children whose medical needs require advanced care available only in the United States and Europe;
Send medical missions to the Middle East from the United States and Europe to treat, on location, a large number of injured and sick children and, when possible, adults;
Train Arab medical professionals; and
Donate medical equipment and supplies.

We are especially proud to have expanded our mandate to help children and adults, not only from Palestine, but from any part of the Arab World. This was a deliberate decision adopted by the PCRF's Board of Trustees to demonstrate to the Arab World that a Palestinian-American charity is committing itself to helping other Arabs a small token of appreciation for what the Arab peoples have done, over the past several decades, to help and support the Palestinian people.
Our work could have never succeeded without the generosity and the support of thousands of caring and generous people like you. Our initial and significant financial support came from Americans, Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans and Arabs from many parts of the Arab World.

Today, as you view our web site, I appeal to you to help us meet the challenges ahead. Thanks to the generosity and support of people like you, we have built a charitable institution to be proud of dedicated solely to helping free of charge those Arab children who need our desperate assistance for life-saving medical care.
My colleagues on the board of trustees, the members of our medical advisory board, our hundreds of volunteers, are honored and humbled by the responsibilities that we have all voluntarily agreed to shoulder.

All we ask is for your help and generous support to enable us to continue this philanthropic mission, particularly at this critical juncture in the Palestinian people's struggle for a just and lasting peace.

With Appreciation,

Board of Directors

Board Of Directors

Dr. Musa Nasir
Chairman
H.E. Paul Lagendijk
Vice-Chairman
Sue Nasir
Treasurer
Hiam Khaireddin
Secretary
Tayseer Barakat
Kuwait
Donya Abduljawad
San Diego, CA
Sameer Alansari
Dubai, U.A.E.
Steve Sosebee
President & CEO

Medical Advisory Board

Dr. Riyad Zannoun
Former Minister of Health, Palestine
Prof. Guido Van Nooten
Cardiac Surgeon, Belgium
Imad Tabry
Miami, FL
Dr. Hugh Watts
Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, USA
Dr. John Van Aalst
Plastic Surgeon, North Carolina
Dr. Joseph Binard
Urology, Wisconsin
Dr. Nader Hebela
Orthopedics, USA
Dr. Basil Hantash
Dermatology, USA
Dr. Enrico Roberto
Plastic Surgeon, Italy
Dr. Daniel Ravel
Pediatric Dental Surgeon, N. Carolina
Dr. Khaled Abughazaleh
Maxillofacial Surgeon, Chicago
Dr. B. Sethia
Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon, London

Legal Consul

Bernabei & Wachtel, PLLC

Administration

Huda Al-Masri
Director of Social Work
Mike Lowe
Administrative Assistant

Field-Workers:

Nuha Al-Masry
Lebanon/Syria Project Manager
Suheil Flaifl
Palestine Project Manager
Suhad Samara
Executive Secretary
Mohammed Afana
Southern Gaza
Khaled Najar
Central Gaza
Mohammed Hussein
Northern Gaza
Ikram Abu al Haija
Nablus
Hana Abdeen
Nablus
Mona Fayed
Jenin
Maha Madani
Tulkarem
Amani Odeh
Qalqilya
Randa Shararah
Ramallah
Niveen Abed Al Hadi
Bethlehem
Amal Haimouni
Hebron