The patient who cares for other patients: Rani Eden-Shahouri from Pardes Hana - Karkur, he is only 4.5 years old, but already understands a thing or two about what is really important in life. An exciting project born out of cooperation between Rani's family, and the community where he lives, led to a donation for children who are in isolation after a bone marrow transplant at Rambam, the hospital where Rani is also being treated for his battle with cancer.
Eight months ago, Aden-Shahouri was diagnosed, and he began intensive treatment in the hemato-oncology unit at the Ruth Children's Hospital in Rambam. The time he was treated in the unit turned Rambam into a second home for Rani and his family members, and they were looking for a way to express their gratitude to the care team and give back to the ward for the care and care they experienced. In the kindergarten where Rani started the school year, they asked his friends to teach the kindergarten class on values of giving and reciprocity, and thus the two ideas became one project entirely for hospitalized children.
"Rani started his fight with the disease right at the beginning of the year, and did not return to class, but remained an integral part of the kindergarten group," says Or Lardo Maman, Rani's kindergarten teacher at the "Edmoniya" kindergarten in Pardes Hana - Karkur, "throughout the year we accompanied him in various activities , and so it was when we decided to contribute to the community. It immediately occurred to us to donate something for the department that Rani is in. After a conversation and consultation with the Rambam, we wanted to donate something useful, that's how the idea of the cameras was born.
Rani, like many other children dealing with cancer, is exposed to various infections and complications. "Due to the treatments that Rani is receiving, his immune system is very weak," explains Shipra Yonatanov, deputy nurse in charge of the pediatric hemato-oncology unit at Ruth Children's Hospital in Rambam, "he doesn't actually have the 'soldiers' to help him deal with all kinds of Diseases and they will protect him from infections, so he needs to be protected many times our patients are forced to go into isolation."
For children who undergo bone marrow transplants and are for this reason in isolation for long periods of time, the Rambam decided to establish a documentation project that allows them to express feelings, capture moments and manage a kind of photographic "journey" during this period. The children of "Gan Admoniya" - Rani's friends.
"We recruited the parents, we set up a cafe in the kindergarten where everything was made by the children, and everything was bought from the hearts of the parents. This is how we managed to raise an amount of money that was enough for several sets of Polaroid cameras for the children," recalls Laredo Mamen of the task the kindergarten children undertook, "We shared the children In what happens to Rani, in a way that can be explained to the children. The children send him pictures, videos, and keep in touch continuously. During this year, Rani was present in every significant part. The children came up with the idea that it would be for Rani Everything was in cooperation with them and they were a driving force in the promotion and implementation of the initiative. We had no doubt that Rani and his dealings would be an integral part of our daily routine in the kindergarten, and that we would work to keep him as part of the group. It happened in the most natural way."
Love and giving have the ability to infect those around them, at least that's how it seems around Rani and his family. "Here, in the ward, Rani is very helpful when he receives gifts in dealing with painful processes and when there is impatience that results from hours of stay in treatments," says Dana Eden-Schouri, Rani's mother, "It was a very good opportunity to teach him how to give to someone else. He did This with great joy and ease. We wish ourselves to be on the side of the giver. We were also blessed with an amazing kindergartner and an embracing community," she notes. "It's fun to give to other children," Rani concluded with a shy smile.
The initiative of the children of Gan Admoniya for the children of Rambam ► Watch
