Saving a child’s heart
'The level of medicine here is so strong and it was a great opportunity to get the chance to learn from my mentors here.'
STUDYING medicine in Israel through Save A Child’s Heart (SACH) has been a life-changing experience for Gazan anaesthesiologist Dr Enas Kabar. And cardiologist Dr Mudaniso Kumani Ziwa of Zambia is working with SACH to save children’s lives in his country.
Visiting Australia, the pair shared their impressions at a February 16 SACH event in Melbourne and met medical and community figures in Sydney.
Kabar was volunteering at a Gazan medical centre when a colleague recommended the SACH program, so she could realise her dream of becoming a cardiac anaesthesiologist. She swallowed her fears, took the plunge and is now training in Israel.
Spending her weekdays in Yafo, she returns to her family in Gaza on weekends. On her first night in Israel, her two young sons expressed concern for her on the other side of the great divide. “In Gaza, we are only Gazans. But when I first went to Israel, I met people from India, China, Africa and Jewish Israelis. It was so strange,” she told The AJN.
“Although it is a strange experience to study here and to enter Israeli society, it’s an interesting experience too. The level of medicine here is so strong and it was a great opportunity to get the chance to learn from my mentors here. There are no paediatric cardiac anaesthesiologists in Gaza. No one can know what will happen in Gaza after five years. But maybe by then, we will have paediatric cardiac surgery and maybe I will be a part of making that dream a reality.”
Kabar is among 150-200 Gazans training with some 400 foreign medical students in the SACH program at Wolfson Medical Centre. Crossing Israel’s most troubled border, Kabar deals with three authorities – Israel, Hamas and Fatah, the latter mediating between Israel and Hamas. But shortly into her commute, she became a familiar sight. Hamas officials ask her to translate medical advice and Israeli officials greet her with “Shalom, doctor”.
“I hope for only one thing – the peace and health of my people,” she reflected. “Save a Child’s Heart represents both of these things.”
Ziwa completed a residency in general surgery in Zambia. Discovering SACH online, he told The AJN, “When the opportunity arose, I came for training to Israel.”
SACH is planning a mission to Zambia in April to treat 14 young heart patients. While surgeons are upskilling through SACH, young Zambians are also being treated in Israel.
Noting the duo’s “inspiring stories, challenges and deep passion”, SACH Australia’s national CEO Doron Lazarus said, “The work we do through SACH showcases Israel and the beacon of humanity it represents.”
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