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RATIONALE – Research
There are millions of different humanitarian organizations all over the world, but specifically in Israel we have many amazing institutions that help the world around it. Out of these many charitable projects, I chose for my research project the “Save a Child’s Heart (SACH)” organization.

When I was searching different organizations for my English project, I was looking for an organization that I could really enjoy reading about, that would inspire me to volunteer and help out wherever I can. When I came across “Save a Child’s Heart”, I almost cried out of emotion from just reading the “About Us” page. SACH is an incredible humanitarian project with a compassionate background, as well as amazing volunteers, hospital doctors, and supportive families.

I feel that this research project has given me a great connection with this organization and other organizations around Israel, which hopefully can be seen and understood through my report. Enjoy!!!



[[image:תמונה2.png align="left"]]SAVE A CHILD’S HEART
“ Save a Child’s Heart” (SACH) is an Israeli – based organization that reaches out around the world to children of all ages with different kinds of heart diseases. The root of this incredible humanitarian institution started with the vision of one man - Dr Ami Cohen. Dr Ami Cohen moved toIsrael from the United States in 1992, where he worked in the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon and served as the Deputy Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Head of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. In 1995 an Ethiopian doctor contacted Ami and asked him if he could help two of his patients in desperate need of heart surgery. From that day on, Save a Child’s Heart has treated more than 2,700 patients, and has expanded to serving children from 42 different countries around the world where decent medical care is unavailable.

Regardless of religion, color, gender or financial situation, Save a Child’s Heart helps any child from infancy to the age of 18, with a congenital and rheumatic heart disease. Their mission is to improve the quality of pediatric cardiac care in developing countries, help and save children from these countries whose only option to treat their disease is to come to SACH in Israel, in addition to send out doctors and volunteers to these countries to help diseased children there while teaching and developing the country’s doctors, too.

One of the many different heart diseases that Save a Child’s Heart deals with everyday is Congenital Heart Disease. CHD, a sickness that grows in the structure of the heart from the minute a diagnosed baby is born, is responsible for more deaths in the first year of life than any other birth defects (Congenital means the condition is present at birth). The occurrence of Congenital Heart Disease is the same all over the world, but in developed countries, such asIsrael, many of the congenital heart problems can be helped and fixed during infancy and the child will be healthy for life. However, in developing countries such asAfrica, the infrastructure is often not enough to treat children with this disease. If their disease is left untreated, then it will most likely worsen to major life threatening and sometimes untreatable diseases. In developing countries, eight children in 1,000 are born with CHD, which is why underappreciated organizations like Save a Child's Heart are so important to the community and to the world as a whole.

Save a Child’s Heart has many projects and events to help raise money for the SACH patients an d for proper medical care equipment. The most popular fundamental project is “Climb Your Heart Out” - This year Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, was climbed by 13 brave doctors, supporters, and volunteers, who each committed to raise a minimum of 10,000 dollars for the cause. The hike took seven days and raised 1 million dollars to save the lives of children in Africa, as well as highlight the importance and awareness of Save a Child’s Heart’s mission – to save a child’s life, a heart at a time. Dr Ami Cohen tragically passed away onMount Kilimanjaro 10 years ago, after reaching the summit. In his remembrance, SACH are committed to continue Ami’s legacy of saving more hearts in the heart of Africa.

In addition to the funds raised by “Climb Your Heart Out” for the children in Africa, SACH sent out a team of 20 medical personnel to Tanzania for a seven day teaching and surgery mission, where they operated on eleven children suffering from heart disease. During these missions the medical team works alongside a local medic, operating on children and sharing knowledge in the various related fields such as cardiology, cardiac surgery and anesthesia.

Save a Child’s Heart has several other events, inside and out of the country, such as “Maccabi Ashdod Has Heart”. Maccabi Ashdod is an Israeli basketball team, which hosted a SACH night to benefit Climb Your Heart Out:Mount Kilimanjaro, during the final game of the season. At the event, volunteers sold Save a Child’s Heart merchandise and collected donations at the entrance of the gym. The team gave SACH free tickets to the game for their volunteers and the children, and the Maccabi Ashdod team took pictures with the children and volunteers after the game. This was one of many events sponsoring Save a Child’s Heart which can help in an enormous way for many children in the Haiffa hospital, and for the children still needed to be transported to Israel.

The process of saving a child's heart at Save a Child's Heart is not a simple one. First, SACH sends medical teams to travel to partner countries to evaluate pre operative patients. After a lot of different examinations, the SACH medical team and the site's local doctors decide together on a list of children requiring heart surgery who must be sent toIsrael as soon as possible- depending on the funds SACH has at the time. The children that arrive at the Israeli airport are met by Save a Child's Heart doctor who checks them to make sure they are OK after their long journey. Shortly after, they are taken to the SACH House for a shower, a meal, and first round of examinations. From here all the children can do is wait until they are called in to theWolfsonMedicalCenter for surgery (which can take up to a maximum of a couple of weeks). Once the child has completely recovered and is healthy enough after a few weeks of continuing check-ups, they then are able to return home, where SACH provides an on-going supply of medicine for the children, examination kits required to test the patients and monitor the clinic’s personnel.



Not only does SACH save children’s lives, but the organization also sends out their medical teams to different countries all over the world in order to teach and perform heart surgery. This by itself is a benevolent act by the organization, and influences not only the present doctors in developing countries, but also saves the lives of the future generations in these countries.

At any given moment there are thousands of children suffering from heart disease around the world who require immediate assistance, and are just not getting the efficient treatment needed to save each and every child’s life. In my opinion, Save a Child's Heart humanitarian institution is one of the most successful, inspiring and contributive organization in Israel, and more importantly, across the globe. Ten thousand dollars is required to save the life of a critically ill child, but just one generous organization can save the life of millions.

**__An Inspiring Quote from Dr. Ami Cohen – Founder of Save a Child’s Heart Organization: __**

"I am convinced that for the vast majority of people who chose cardiothoracic surgery as a profession, idealism was initially a strong factor. For those of you who are reading this and just starting out, hold fast to your 'day after-vision' because, if it fades, despite all the skills acquired, there will be something missing. For those who are searching, join us and together let us make the network to help children with heart disease globally big enough to be equal to the task. There is work for everybody. There are no dollars and cents in it, but it is worth a fortune."

** - Dr. Amram (Ami) Cohen **

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**RATIONALE – Profile **
For my profile part of my English report, I decided to interview Mrs. Horowitz – a local foster mom who lives in Elazar with her five children, currently developing a relationship with her second foster child, Tamar. I was inspired by Michal’s huge influence on her foster children and family, by just doing a not so simple but small task, like taking in a child to your home, can completely change someone’s life. Going to interview Mrs. Horowitz was very enjoyable because not only did I leave her home with a solid interview, but also with new intelligence and deeply appreciated advice.

**MICHAL HOROWITZ – A LOCAL HERO **
Michal Horowitz is an ordinary woman who has a home, a job, and a healthy family. Yet, in every woman there is a hero – and Michal has, and is still, continuing to show her heroism every day. Mrs. Horowitz, who made Aliya 25 years ago from New York, has five children in between the ages of eight to sixteen. In her collage years she went to Hebrew U, after she moved to Israel at the age of 15 with her mother and two siblings. Michal’s mother was actually the one who introduced this amazing and important idea to her family. About 20 years ago Michal’s mother would talk about becoming a foster mom and taking in children with trouble at home, but she never got the opportunity to do it because it is hard enough to raise a family who recently moved to a new country with a new language and society, but to also have a new child raised in their own home would just be overwhelming. At the time, it did not seem much of an importance to Michal, but in the future her mother’s dreams were what gave Michal a dream of her own that she soon fulfilled – a foster mom. At some point in Michal Horowitz’s life she happened to come across an ad in the weekly newspaper explaining that foster moms are always needed in their organization. Mrs. Horowitz thought it would be a good idea and opportunity that she would definitely consider, but the time was not right – her children were still very young, and it would be extra difficult for both children (for her family and for the foster child) if they were the same age. A foster child needs most of or even a mother’s full attention, and that would be difficult if she still had her own children who need and want that attention, too. So Michal waited and postponed, until one day years later, she saw another ad in the newspaper and thought that it was time, her family was ready and so was she. Since then, Michal has had two children – Noa and Tamar. Mrs. Horowitz’s first foster child, Noa, was an Ethiopian infant when the Horowitzs took her in, staying with them for a little over a year. Because Noa was so young when Mrs. Horowitz fostered her, it was not very hard for Noa to feel welcome in their home and she fit right in immediately. After about a year, Noa was adopted by a family who also recently adopted her older brother. Mrs. Horowitz explained that it is not usual for a foster child to be adopted because most of the time the objective of fostering a child is to give the parents time to get better and figure things out, along with eventually receiving their child back. //“It’s one thing to give your child away, knowing you have the option to get him or her back,”// Michal explains. //“But it’s another to totally give away your child for good. No matter how bad a mother you are, you’re still a mother and it’s still hard to give your child away so easily, knowing you don’t have another option.”// Noa was very lucky to be adopted together with her brother, and the family adopting them is very lucky, too. Although Noa will not remember much of the Horowitz family, it’s enough for them to know they have made a great influence in her life, as she had for them. Michal’s second and current foster child is three year-old Tamar. Tamar has been with the Horowitz family for a month now, recently starting to have weekly visits with her own parents. It’s still difficult for The Horowitz family to cope with Tamar – Michal’s children think she is very cute but a handful. Tamar never talked when she was younger because her parents ignored her, so now she has a disability and cannot talk so well. Because of this, Tamar sometimes can be very aggressive when she wants the family’s attention – whether it is wanting to play with them or just asking for food. Michal explained that when the family received Tamar, they did not really know much about her personality. It is hard to know the basics, for example, her favorite food or even her shoe size, when you were not the person who raised this child. So Michal started from the beginning – like any real mother would, going to buy her new shoes, tried new foods, and gives as much attention as she can. orowitz’s Although Tamar did not smile once when Mr. and Mrs. Horowitz went to visit her at gan (Israeli pre-school), at the Horowitz’s home Tamar is very happy and excited! She loves having siblings/friends around. Of course, Michal’s hopes for the future is for Tamar to live a happy and normal life – but you never know what can happen, and you can never know how long Tamar will be staying with the Horowitzs. Mrs. Horowitz explains that Tamar made need to stay with them for her whole life! It all depends on her parents – who from the beginning were just clueless parents who did not know how to control or handle a child. Tamar did not really get the attention she needed when she was younger, which made her someone who looks for negative attention and can be very aggressive. It is amazing what the Horowitz’s do for this child, how Michal gives up her time and attention for her, because being a foster mom is not an easy task. A foster mom is not only someone who takes in a child or an infant to take care of him or her, but also treats that child as their own – like any regular mother would. Michal is Tamar’s mother; she takes care of her, helping her to grow up in a normal atmosphere so she can live her life to its fullest. To Michal, the reward and meaning of being a foster mom is knowing that she is changing the world little by little, just by giving up some time of her own to do a huge mitzvah that can, most importantly, save a child’s life. “Most of us take our families for granted, I’m just glad I’m able to share mine with others who really need it”. After asking Mrs. Horowitz if she recommends being a foster mom, she swiftly answered that everyone is different, and it always depends on your individual situation. It is a matter of whether you think you can handle giving up so much of your time and attention to this one child, and if you can, Michal very much recommends it because truthfully, these children will take anything they can get, and if you are in a good situation to do something like this, that is amazing. Michal’s advice for us readers is to simply lend a hand whenever it is possible. The movie //“Pay it Forward”// is an amazing example of one child who just wanted to change the world – and by doing little helpful tasks he changed peoples’ lives. If you are able to do a mitzvah, if you are able to change someone’s life, do it. One little task can help change the world and make it a better place.

**RATIONALE – Personal Connection **
To show my personal connection to Israel in a creative way, I have decided to create a little movie of pictures that I personally took of Israel and its nature. Israel is a beautiful place to live in or visit, but it is a fact that little attention is given to all the litter around us that is hurting our environment. Israel has a lot of garbage on its grounds, so for my project I have personally taken the situation into my hands to clean Israel up little by little, with some help from friends and family. My connection to Israel could go on and on since it is such a large and strong topic, but to me most of Israel’s beauty is the people that live in it. Every citizen is different, each with his or her own interesting story, different background, and an enjoyable personality. So it’s only natural for the people to give back and help Israel, which is why I focused my creative project on the people gradually helping Israel by cleaning it up, bit by bit. Every detail, effect, and picture that is shown in my video was taken and edited by me personally. Hopefully my effort can be seen and understood as well as my connection to Israel.

media type="file" key="movie 2.flv" align="center" width="360" height="270"

**CREATIVE CONNECTION- EXPLANATION **
For my creative part of the report, I choose to show my personal connection to Israel through a home-made video, edited and designed personally by me. In my video, you will find two different sides of Israel – The clean, natural side, and the dirty, polluted side. I have photographed all of these pictures myself, with only the help of my friends and family to create a great ending of a horrible crisis. It is true that Israel is polluted, which is why I chose to take it upon myself to help out little by little, slowly cleaning up Israel, a piece of garbage at a time. My connection to Israel is purely the want and need to help it, whether that means by living here, by volunteering, or by simply picking up garbage – in the end our intentions are all the same. Israel is more than a country, it is our home, which is why we all need to lend a hand to our land, and pick up the trash.



**REFLECTION ** In the I-Faces 2012 project, I have learnt a few important skills in life. One would be that most of us do not appreciate the pleasures we have in our lives – whether it is health issues or family difficulties, it is regular for these things to be taken for granted in our day to day lives. After learning about the amazing things done in the organization “Save a Child’s Heart”, and interviewing a local woman who is simply changing a child’s life without hesitation, can really make you think about how you can personally help your country. That is why the creative part of this project is a great way to let us students express how we feel about Israel, and how we want to help. To improve the project, I would suggest making all three parts of the report connected somehow and not totally different topics like this one was. In my opinion, every part could be connected to one big topic, just shown in different views – like the interview and the creative project, because it makes it a bit more interesting and more importantly - understandable. In my opinion, this English project has helped many students in grammar skills, and general knowledge. Also, this project has given us all an opportunity to open our eyes to our surroundings, to think about our actions and thoughts the next time we are upset or distressed. Every aspect in life has its positives and negatives, we just each have to take what we can and use it to improve our surroundings, and more importantly, ourselves.



**BIBLIOGRAPHY** “Climb
Your Heart Out”, __Save a Child’s Heart__, November 28, 2011 < []>

“Congentile Heart Disease”, __NHS choices__, July 25, 2011, December 14, 2011 <[]>

“Dr. Ami Cohen and History”, __Save a Childs Heart__, November 23, 2011 <[]>

Horowitz, Michal. Pharmacist and Foster Mom, __Personal Interview__. Elazar, November 22, 2011 “Mission Statement”, __Save a Child’s Heart__, November 28, 2011 <[]>

“Questions and Answers”, __Save a Child’s Heart__, November 28, 2011 < [|http://www.saveachildsheart.org/366-en/123.aspx#2]>