Dear Friends and Supporters,
A month has passed since tragedy struck Israel and Palestine and crises surfaced on so many fronts. While the war has brought excruciating pain at the individual and collective levels for Palestinians and Israelis in the region, as well as for communities worldwide, including our own multi-identity global Rozana team, we have remained focused on what we do – health diplomacy.
Our commitment to Health Diplomacy is reflected in our new brand, whose launch, by chance, coincided with the war. It symbolizes our shared values of humanity that transcend the boundaries of conflict. It also serves as an emblem of our unwavering solidarity with our medical colleagues across the region who bear the weight of the ongoing war and its unprecedented consequences. I welcome you to delve deeper into our health diplomacy approach, and how Rozana is pioneering the field.
Amid the ongoing challenges and our dedicated efforts to support our healthcare allies through our emergency campaign, our work perseveres. It is with mixed emotions that I share our programmatic updates. I feel profound sadness as a mother and a peacebuilder for the current situation, but at the same time, immense pride in the resilience and dedication of our extraordinary team and our Palestinian and Israeli partners.
In solidarity and with heartfelt thanks,
Ronit Zimmer
CEO, Project Rozana
THE PALESTINE-ISRAEL EMERGENCY RELIEF APPEAL
Rozana stands in unyielding solidarity with our esteemed medical partners and Rozana alumni who are the frontline of humanity in war, and every single day.
Your contribution will strengthen the capabilities of our healthcare allies across Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Israel, ensuring critical medical care for civilians.
PLEASE HELP US TO CONTINUE THIS VITAL WORK BY GIVING WHAT YOU CAN TODAY.
Donate now
Rozana Health Diplomacy Initiatives
Women4Women
Our Women4Women initiative is dedicated to its mission of providing essential services to women and families in remote West Bank villages. Despite the current hardships, our young female Palestinian allied health professionals press on, delivering care and support. They regularly consult with Sheba Beyond through remote care devices and engage in online training sessions, covering crucial areas like triage and diabetes management. We are also expecting the delivery of prenatal vitamins for the women in our communities, facilitated in partnership with the Multifaith Alliance and ANERA. Additionally, to address the challenging situation in the Hebron Hills, we are urgently working on acquiring a mobile clinic, ensuring the safe and hygienic delivery of healthcare services even in precarious circumstances. FCDO began funding the training and clinical supervision side of this initiative from September.
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Wheels of Hope: Providing Lifeline Transportation for Palestinian Patients
Border closures have posed challenges for our minibus transport system, which typically serves Palestinian patients traveling from the Gaza crossing to appointments in Israeli hospitals. To adapt to the circumstances, we've initiated minibus services operating from Jerusalem to various West Bank locations, running six days a week. Volunteers from Humans Without Borders in Jerusalem and Green Land in Hebron have been instrumental in driving patients from the West Bank to hospitals in East Jerusalem and Israel. Despite the difficulties due to settler violence and tensions at checkpoints, the minibus service remains crucial in ensuring patients' access to the healthcare they need.
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Nurse Training
Our USAID-funded training program, designed to foster collaboration between twinned hospitals, has recently completed its first year. The second round, initially scheduled for late November, is likely to be postponed until January for the Ramallah-Tel Aviv and Hebron-Ashdod hospital pairs. However, the Jerusalem twin hospitals may resume training earlier. Language training has remained a crucial aspect of this program, with Palestinian nurses learning Hebrew and non-Arabic speaking Israeli counterparts focusing on Arabic. Palestinian nurses are also actively pursuing their online accreditation courses. The planned mega event was postponed to around Easter/Passover/Ramadan, following the second round of clinical training. The UK Government (FCDO – Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) began funding the M&E and peacebuilding components of this initiative in September.
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Palliative Care
In December, we are conducting three online workshops as part of our palliative care training program in Jerusalem. These workshops will provide comprehensive training to 60 physicians and allied health professionals from six distinguished Jerusalem medical institutions. This pilot program is also funded by FCDO. Our ultimate goal is to secure funding from USAID for a more comprehensive project, encompassing in-person training and significant peacebuilding components, including language learning and interfaith components.
Rehabilitation Center (under construction)
We've been actively supporting Green Land in constructing a rehabilitation center in Hebron. This is a vital resource for the community, especially considering the long-term rehabilitation needs arising from the current war. We recently secured a commitment of $1,000,000, which will be directed towards completing the construction of this facility. This substantial grant will be delivered through Rozana UK. Just prior to the outbreak of the recent war, Rozana facilitated a 14-day hydrotherapy training seminar for physiotherapists from Hebron, as preparation for the center. The training was conducted at Sha'ar Hanegev Hydrotherapy Center by experts from Alyn, a pediatric rehabilitation center in Jerusalem. Regrettably, the closing ceremony of the training was attended by the head of the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council, Ofir Libstein, who lost his life on October 7 while bravely defending his kibbutz, Kfar Aza. We had the privilege of meeting Ofir just a few weeks earlier, as we discussed a cross-border project with Gaza.
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The ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support)
Much like the Nursing Hub, we are planning to resume in-person ATLS training (funded by USAID) in the new year.
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Binational School of Psychotherapy
The project training Israeli and Palestinian psychotherapists has been extended until mid-2024 (funded by the EU). As part of our ongoing efforts, we are currently organizing an initiative where alumni from this program will take on the role of moderators for forums involving other program alumni and participants, providing a safe space to discuss the current crisis. We are also in the process of developing an alumni platform for our 'health diplomats', which will include online lectures, psychosocial support forums, and a blog, forming the initial infrastructure for a broader alumni program.
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Rozana's 'health diplomats'
Furthermore, we are currently working on the development of a platform dedicated to Rozana's 'health diplomats' - program participants and alumni. This platform will provide various resources, such as online lectures, psychosocial support forums, a blog, and more. It will serve as the foundational structure for a more extensive alumni program, uniting our growing healthcare community committed to promoting peacebuilding.
More updates coming soon...