PEACE with Penny SEASON 5 Penny S. Tee Interviews Shahar Steiff of Road to Recovery, War Update, November 4, 2023
These are very difficult days as the war is almost a month long, besides how do you maintain a Peace vodcast of Israelis and Palestinians when a disastrous war is raging? At PEACE with Penny, we’re asking ourselves how to navigate the latest roadblocks and we believe that by letting you know how our incredible Israeli & Palestinian Peace organizations that we’ve interviewed in the past are doing, is the best way to keep Peace alive. We provide the platform for these Peace organizations to get the word out that Israelis and Palestinians have worked on Peace together for years, but the world doesn’t know about it—it’s not what they see on their tv sets. Oy.
It’s because these organizations work with the commitment of their hearts, that they continue, and it’s not easy for so many reasons that you’ll hear about. We first spoke with Road to Recovery in February, aptly on Valentine’s Day, because it’s a story of humanity and love, rare commodities in these times, yet The Road to Recovery continues to be a bright ray of sunshine.
We will be speaking with Shahar Steiff, a Jewish, Israeli volunteer with the Road to Recovery. At the Road to Recovery they transport Palestinian patients, often children, to and from the border crossings for treatment in Israeli hospitals. Palestinians get the patients and their parents to their border and from their border, Israelis transport them to Israeli hospitals for treatment. So now that there is the war going on, we’ll find out what the status is of their amazing work. Are they still able to function? Are there still volunteers, or are they fighting the war, or willing to continue?
The journey from the border crossing is virtually impossible for the hundreds of parents of sick children, due to both expense as well as logistical complexity. Parents are left completely helpless in the face of their child’s illness. The Palestinian Authority finances the hospital treatment, but getting to and from the hospital remains a huge and often insurmountable barrier.
Road to Recovery fills in this gap and along the way the humanitarian effort and the friendships that form move Peace forward.
In addition to the 1200 volunteers, transporting Palestinian patients to hospitals all over Israel, well that was how many they had before the war, Road to Recovery assists those with limited means in the acquisition of specialized outpatient medical equipment. They also organize special rehabilitation and retreat days for Palestinian patients and their families in Israeli recreation destinations.
Even in these horrific times, there are sparks of light if you look for them.
May You Live in Peace, שלום and سلام.…
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