Story Updates
Posted by Jenny Parker on Aug 01, 2016
I have two great pieces of news to give you that will make you very proud to be a Rotarian.
First, the SD Hands of Peace Summer Program went very well and ended last weekend with a Farewell Celebration that was magical. The 40 Israeli, Palestinian and American teens that met just 18 days before (and went through an amazing transformation) put on a great show for us. Four gave powerful speeches that left no dry eyes but lots of hope. One participant wrote and delivered a phenomenal poem called Dear Neighbor. They also sang, danced, hugged, laughed a lot.... and cried because they new this was the last night with their new best friends and supportive community. It was a very successful program and I suspect some new leaders were 'born'. Know that your Rotary grant donations have made a major difference to these kids and possibly to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
The second story I have for you is about a petite Iranian-American nurse who you know well (Fary Moini). Since she gave us a talk about building schools in Afghanistan three weeks ago, she has been busy on a wild adventure. She has accompanied a very cute but sick little boy (Yahya) with a serious congenital heart condition from a small village in Afghanistan through Turkey (where there was just a major coup to overthrow the government) and into Israel. There, she arranged for a private charity to perform life saving open heart surgery for Yahya on Sunday. Amazing! Here's the best part for me: the surgeons were a Jewish Israeli and a Christian Ethiopian; the anesthesiologist was Palestinian. The entire surgical team has donated their time for this little boy they didn't know, thanks to Fary. Yahya is doing very well in recovery. People from all over have been donating to Yahya and his family on hearing the story. Of course, along the way, Fary has met and formed alliances with the head of the hospital, Rotary DGs, politicians, ambassadors and reporters. Looks like this is turning into a big news story you may hear again.