Dubai: The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), UAE Chapter announced the appointment of actress Nesreen Tafesh as the organisation’s Humanitarian Ambassador at a press conference on Wednesday.
The Palestinian-Algerian actress will work with the PCRF to expand its services and raise awareness of its needs in order to help more children in the Middle East. Helping around 6,000 to 7,000 children a year, the PCRF provides medical assistance to injured or sick children from Palestine, Syria and Iraq.
“All the children of the world are one — I have met with some of the children the PCRF have brought to the UAE, and they have astounded me with their courage and kindness. They have touched my heart, and I will do everything within my capability to make sure they receive the help and attention they deserve,” said Nesreen.
Gulf News talked to Gadir Teeti, one of five children who were sent to the UAE by the PCRF for medical treatment last year. The 17-year-old Palestinian girl from Al Khaleel city suffered several burns on her body at the age of three after an accident in her kitchen. Gadir has been a patient at the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery in Dubai for over ten months where she has been treated with several tissue expander transplants.
‘Dream come true’
“Me and my family are very happy and grateful to the PCRF for providing me with medical treatment — it’s like a dream come true,” she told Gulf News.
Along with Gadir, the PCRF has treated thousands of children by providing medical missions in Palestine, where doctors from all over the world visit the country, offering surgeries, expertise and training otherwise not available. The organisation also sends children from Palestine, Syria and Iraq to their 20 branches in different countries, where they are given accommodation while their surgeries are performed. Mazen Aloul, media coordinator of the PCRF, said that while last year volunteer efforts helped the organisation host five children in the UAE, they are hoping to increase the number by spreading awareness about the charitable services.
The biggest PCRF humanitarian so far is the Huda Al Masri Paediatric Cancer Centre located in Beit Jala, Palestine. The cancer centre is the first, and only, privately owned hospital in the Palestinian territories for cancer treatment and has been funded entirely by donations from all over the world. Facilities and equipment are still being added to the centre, and donations are continuously being collected. Currently, the centre has facilities to treat 14 patients.
Smaller humanitarian projects by the PCRF also include a range of charity activities — from fund-raising for wheelchairs to fund-raising for an entire hospital.
