Rachashei Lev association, founded in 1989 has engraved on its banner to accompany children with cancer and their families hand in hand at all stages and challenges of the war against cancer. We, at Rachashei Lev, do our best to get the children out of the disease and allow them to return to being just children in the difficult period of the treatments, a time when they have to deal with a difficult world, a world of adults. Our National Service counselors and volunteers are daily in the hospital wards where children with cancer stay, from the early hours of the morning until the late hours of the night, playing, listening, fulfilling wishes and accompanying the children and families through the complex process of the disease. Our presence and activity in the wards have become an integral part of the children’s healing process.
Rachashei Lev organizes fun days for children with cancer.
A child with cancer spends weeks and months in hospital, he does not get to feel the warm rays of the sun every day. After a bone marrow transplant, prolonged hospitalization or prior to surgery or complex treatment, our National Service counselors and volunteers take the kids out for a day of fun, safari, skydiving, flying in the skies of the country, a good restaurant and a variety of other attractions and activities. The trip outside the hospital brings back to the child the enthusiasm and joy of life, allows him to gain experiences, smile and rejoice. In our experience, children return from such fun days with higher blood counts, with physical abilities to cope more effectively with treatments and side effects. The good experience accompanies them many more days ahead, and helps them maintain high morale, optimism and hope, giving them the strength to fight for their lives.
In cases where there are several children of the same age, who connected due to long stay wards, and share common challenges, Rachashei Lev organizes group fun days for them, which allow them to spend quality time together outside the hospital, enjoy a relaxed and experiential atmosphere, and take advantage of the time together without interruption by the medical staff around to talk about the difficulty, unload, strengthen each other and strengthen together.
An example of such a fun day is a day of styling and model photo book for girls. Girls with cancer have to deal with a not-so-simple change in their appearance – hair loss, extreme thinness or swelling as part of the side effects of medications, wounds and more. On such a fun day we take care to dress them, have them wear make-up and give them the confidence to stand with pride and a sense of security in front of the camera and feel the most beautiful as they are.
In the middle of a photo shoot like this, we find ourselves getting excited over and over again, as they begin to remove the wig one after the other, laughing and raving together – accepting themselves and loving themselves just as they are. Beautiful! Strong! And happy!
Rachashi Lev organizes holiday camps in Israel and around the world for children with cancer and their families.
Rediscover life! Children with cancer need more than all of us a real vacation – a few days of rest and disconnection from the ward corridors, where they can forget about the pain and treatments, walk in nature, go wild, have fun, laugh and gather strength and hope for the rest of the war for their lives. Therefore, it is no wonder that our children wait all year long in anticipation of the holiday camps that take place in Israel and abroad, and include flight, hotel stay, trips, various activities and special attractions.
The holiday camps in the country are intended for sick children together with their families, we take care to provide a broad and customized solution for the children and their families. The child lives and grows up in several environment, the most obvious and important one is the family in its various parts – parents and siblings. A condition of illness or serious injury can have devastating effects on the child’s development and the family relationships affected by his condition – the marital relationship, parenting and relationships with and between siblings. All of these changes may in turn affect the sick child himself. A holiday camp where all family members can spend quality time together as a family, allows an opportunity to get closer and reconnect, allows parents to relate and spend time with siblings, allows the sick child to meet his brother in a pleasant and safe environment, and contributes to strengthening bond and family resilience.
Fun days and holiday camps for children with cancer, are more than moments of fun and enjoyment, they are an integral part of the care and recovery system! They are moments of accumulating energies and strength to continue the war for life! Rachashei Lev invites you to be a big part of the happiness and recovery of children with cancer.
