Funds for medical aid to Palestinian kids sought

A U.S. journalist turned social worker has called on authorities in the UAE for funds to provide medical care for thousands of Palestinian children.

Steve Sosebee, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which is a registered non-political, non-profit, tax-exempt organisation, is knocking on the doors of the Ministry of Health and the Department of Health and Medical Services for assistance.

Sosebee, who was a journalist for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, covered the first Intifada in 1980s. "When I saw that the children in Palestine are the main victims of the wars, I decided to help them. I established this organisation in order to help these children," said Sosebee.

He added that the fund helps to locate cost-free medical care for children from the Middle East who are unable to get the necessary specialised treatment in their homeland.

"Mainly, we use U.S. and European hospitals to treat Palestinian children by regularly sending injured and sick Arab children to the U.S. and Europe for free care that is not available to them in their countries," said Sosebee.

To date, the fund has sent over 300 children abroad to the U.S. and Europe for free medical treatment.

"We have also brought medical teams from abroad which cured more than 3,000 children for free. These include different types of procedures such as heart surgeries, eye surgeries and plastic surgeries," he said.

Sosebee has visited the UAE previously, and got good response from the people here.

"We are here to seek help from the government of the UAE as well as the people. I have spoken to people from the Department of Health and Medical Services in Dubai, about whether we can bring some of these children here to the UAE for treatment. It will be a great help for us," said Sosebee.

The annual budget of the fund is $300,000 which they get from donors. The fund also helps to improve the quality of medical care in the Middle East by sending medical equipment and supplies to war-torn Lebanon and the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Huda Al Masri, Head of Social Workers, said that the fund relies on many volunteers in the U.S. who act as host families for these children who get their medical treatment in the U.S.

"Most of the time, we prefer to keep these children with Arab families where they feel more comfortable and can speak the language," said Huda.

"Usually, we take the children up to nine without their parents for treatment, while those who are aged under nine go with their families."

The fund has also trained Palestinian surgeons so they can treat patients there and has sent American medical personnel to the region to treat difficult cases and train medical personnel in the country.

Ziad Mughrabe, member of the organisation, said: "The fund helps many Palestinian doctors to get up to date in the field. So far, th fund has sent more than six doctors to the U.S. to update their knowledge. It also helps Palesti-nian doctors by sending volunteer doctors to Palestine who can help them and train them."

Representatives of the fund are in Dubai until the Eid holidays, and for further information about fund, contact Steve Sosebee on 050-4757275, by e-mail at pcrf@pcrf.net, or visit www.pcrf.net

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