Save A Child's Heart YLG

SACH celebrated Jewish Heritage Month with a very special picnic at New York’s Gracie Mansion.

We enjoyed delicious food, music and drinks with The Council of Young Jewish Presidents.

YLG Executive Board Chairman Michael Littenberg-Brown and Director Melissa Jane Kronfeld celebrated with friends and Jewish community leaders!

Mayor Michael Bloomberg put on a hysterical comedy routine that had us on stitches!

And superstar recording artist Neil Sedaka performed!

We look forward to celebrating our heritage again next year! See you then!

Be sure to check out all the photos from the event on our Facebook page!

We are extremely proud and happy to announce that Save a Child’s Heart has been selected to receive the Israeli Presidential Award for Volunteerism!

The award is given in recognition and gratitude of all the volunteers who dedicate a significant portion of their time and life to Save a Child’s Heart, including the medical team, the board, the volunteers in the hospital and children’s home as well as the people who are active in their communities around the world.

This prestigious award, given by the President of Israel encourage the spirit of voluntarism in Israeli society and it encourages us all to keep working at saving children who suffer from congenital heart disease.

The award will be given on June 27, 2012 at the President’s House in Jerusalem.

SACH Position: Events Chair, NYC Young Professional Committee

Age: 27

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem/San Francisco State University, BA, Modern Jewish Studies/Middle East Studies

Occupation: Associate Director for Student Affairs, Overseas Student Program, Ben-Gurion University.

Why I joined SACH: In 2007 I led a college leadership mission which focus was connecting students to grassroots organizations in Israel; a trip, which SACH was a significant part of because it was founded by an Israeli doctor who wanted to see a change and was making it happen through his actions. From then on every trip to Israel both alone and with a group has included a visit to the SACH house and hospital. I believe that the organization is taking strides to unite countries that under all other circumstances are divided by welcoming children into the SACH house, hospital and Israel. I am proud to be part of a foundation that puts such a large amount of the proceeds towards the cause and look forward to educating and fund-raising to support all that Save a Child’s Heart does.

SACH wants to learn from your volunteering experience!

Are you a current or former volunteer of SACH? Has the volunteer work had an impact on your life and work? Do you feel you have learned something from the experience and would like to share it? Well, this is your opportunity to do so. SACH in cooperation with VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands, would like to hear about your volunteer experience. Research is being conducted to gain a deeper understanding on the effects of volunteering on you and SACH.

At the moment, we are looking for current and former volunteers of SACH, who will be interested to talk to us and share their volunteering stories. We conduct interviews (30-45 minutes), which can take place via Skype, over the phone, face-to-face (in Israel and Netherlands) or whatever else works best.

Example questions include, what inspired you to participate in the volunteering project?  Or how does your volunteering experiences contribute to your personal and professional development?

Your collaboration is very important for the success of this project! If you are interested in taking part, or for more information regarding the project, please email volunteering.feweb@vu.nl or phone +31 6 34 0 34 941.

Give Your Heart Out 2012 was a huge success! And thanks to everyone’s help, eight children will get a new lease on life from the doctors at Save A Child’s Heart!

Abreham is a thirteen year old from Ethiopia. His favorite activities is playing soccer. He is on his way to a full recovery and is looking forward to going home so he can play  with his brother again. Abreham would like to become a doctor to help people in his village.

Miriam is a three year old girl from Ghana. After she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, her mother searched on the Internet and came across the SACH website. She contacted us and was immediately brought to Israel to receive surgery. Miriam is always laughing, smiling, and making friends with everyone around her. She loves to sing and play.

Stephano is a four year old from Tanzania. He was one of the many children screened during the Medical Mission in Tanzania. Stephano was diagnosed with Congenital Heart Disease at eighteen months old because he suffered from pneumonia and breathing problems. Stephano is the youngest of 9 children. He has four brothers and four sisters.

Yazid Masri is a five year old from Gaza. His heart condition was diagnosed as soon as he was born. Dr. Furjat referred him to Save a Child’s Heart. Despite his heart condition, he still showed eagerness to play football, draw, and sing.

Eiman is a four year old from Gaza. Eiman’s heart condition was only just discovered after her father noticed her irregular breathing patterns. Eiman loves to run and play. She also loves watching her favorite cartoon, Tom and Jerry.

Minna is a one year old from Bethlehem who just received life-saving heart surgery at the Wolfson Medical Center. Minna is now recovering in the hospital and looking forward to going home to her sisters and friends.

Elham is a one year old from Gaza. She was diagnosed with congenital heart disease when she was three days old. Elham has had her surgery and is making a full recovery.

Seba is an 18 month old from the Palestinian Authority, who received surgery and is doing very well.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP MAKING GIVE YOUR HEART OUT 2012 A REALITY FOR EIGHT YOUNG LIVES!

- The SACH Young Leadership Group

With its admirable mission, heartwarming stories, and personalities from all over the word… it’s time for SACH to hit the silver screen!

‘A Heartbeat Away’ is a story about fate, and an Israeli doctor that decides to lead a life of action and intervention to attempt to change the lives of thousands children suffering from heart disease.

The film follows Dr. Akiva Tamir, the co-founder of SACH as well the organization’s pediatric cardiologist for the past 16 years, who reluctantly takes on the role of God by granting a future to the children he chooses to treat.

For the rest - the majority - their fate is sealed… and grim.

The film follows Dr. Tamir through his responsibilities in the hospital, surrounded by colleagues and patients, to the isolation and confusion he feels when alone in his thoughts. The film peers into the depths of one man’s soul to understand how he routinely copes with decisions that are anything but routine.

The central conflict is of life and death and the tensions between them that showcase the human condition through life’s most dramatic moments of hope and tragedy.

This film is currently in production but here is an exclusive sneak peek at some of the central characters…

Dr. Akiva Tamir, Israel, Head of Pediatric Cardiology, Wolfson Medical Center

Laurencia Simon, Tanzania, Born December 20, 2006. Received surgery August 5, 2011

Emilian Julius Bernard, Tanzania, Born 2006. Received surgery March 25, 2012

Julius and his father, Bernard, are currently in Israel awaiting Julius’ surgery. The two recently visited Jerusalem to see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Stay tuned for some exclusive footage coming soon! And to stay up to date with all the recent developments, visit the documentary’s Facebook page!

— Emma Hacohen, Assistant Producer

For more information about the film, or to find out about how you can get involved in helping making this film a reality, please contact Emma at emmahacohen@gmail.com

Magic was in the air at the SACH house as Ophir Samson treated the SACH kids to a fun and participatory magic show.

Ophir, who works as a professional magician in his free time, brought his collection of tricks to the new SACH home to entertain the recovering children… and they loved every minute of it!

A special challenge for this magic show was the fact that Ophir had to carry out the entire show in virtual silence, given that the kids staying at the SACH house do not speak a common language.

“I was amazed at how much harder it is to do magic without being able to communicate verbally,” he told us.

In the end, Ophir put on a fantastic show, and even took time to teach the kids a few of his tricks afterwards. While the magic show was done without any words, the shrieks of laughter from the kids said all that needed to be said about how much they enjoyed the magic show.

Check out a video from the show here! And to learn more about Ophir’s magic, check out his website!

- Michael Littenberg-Brown, YLG Chairman

On Saturday, Mach 24^th, Ambassador Tesfaye Yilma and the Embassy of Ethiopia opened their doors for an evening to honor Save a Child’s Heart and the many Ethiopian children whose lives have been saved by SACH.  Over 125 people joined the Ambassadors and SACH U.S. Board members in the celebration. 

“Welcome to Ethiopia!” reminded attendees at the SACH DC Young Professionals Committee Gala event that for one night they had left DC and were officially visitors of the African state.

Ambassador Francis Cook spoke to a packed house on behalf of the SACH U.S. Board, saying she wanted to, “thank you university students, and you young professionals, who have been doing so much leg work, cultivating unprecedented awareness of the work that SACH is doing, as well as explaining the need for more support.”

The evening featured an especially moving moment when Debbie Cohen, widow of SACH founder Ami Cohen, was presented with a coffee table book of photos from the SACH International Photography Exhibit. The book was put together by the SACH Young Leadership Group and dedicated to Ami’s memory, making the presentation a truly special moment for all involved.

Guests were treated to delicious Ethiopian food and the sounds of Ethiopian music were in the air as we celebrated the work of SACH in Ethiopia: bringing children to Israel for life-saving heart surgery, and building local medical expertise in the country.

Pictures by Emmanuel Ayorinde

After much anticipation and with great excitement I visited the brand new SACH children’s home in Holon on Sunday. Wow! What an amazing place for the young SACH patients and their family members to spend their time while in Israel!

A beautiful new building set in a quiet neighborhood is such a fitting place for the SACH children to be welcomed to Israel and to prepare for and recover from surgery. Sleek glass doors behind a modern wood fence welcome visitors to the large social and dining area, set just off a very large modern kitchen.

Surrounding the first floor is a wrap-around playground and winding dirt paths snaking around the building. Inside there is also a play room filled with every toy imaginable, and the kids wander between the play room and the living space, choosing between art projects, musical instruments, and all sorts of games for kids of every age.

Upstairs are hallways reminiscent of modern college dorms, stretching in both directions, two floors of rooms for the kids, their families, and SACH volunteers and visiting doctors. Around back on the first floor are sleek new offices for the SACH staff - finally offering the dedicated and devoted staff room to stretch the legs.

Sitting in the house, enjoying the rich smells of the moms cooking dinner, watching the kids slip in and out of rooms, outside the house and then back in, listening to their laughter and soaking up every single smile, it is an amazingly rewarding feeling to be part of such a fantastic organization that has saved so many lives, and such a joy to see the new house that will house so many more precious young lives that will be saved going forward.

- Michael Littenberg-Brown, YLG Chairman