As all of us struggle with the
challenges of the Corona Crisis,
the scale and nature of which have never been experienced before, the stress is huge. Yet, compassion and generosity have not stopped; we thank each of you who has expressed interest in how the children and families we serve are coping with this new reality.
For families whose children’s progress depends on therapies and special equipment, meeting each new day has its challenges – and that’s before we consider the many parents on unpaid holiday or out of work, lacking access to professional support services with clinics closed. Lack of therapies leads to regression and losing precious skills families worked so hard to acquire.
As families remain at home, we are moved by the passion that drives parents to continue doing everything they possibly can to help their children overcome their special needs. These wonderful parents, together with our dedicated team of therapists, have been working non-stop throughout the pandemic to offer their children the best care possible.
Facing the challenge
The families we serve here in Israel since our inception nearly 19 years ago are typically more isolated than the rest of the population during regular times, let alone during a global crisis. As always, we maintain our steadfast focus on empowering and supporting them while working to address their immediate needs. For us, empowering families entails meeting with them, engaging, and asking how they’re feeling, in order to develop a deep understanding of how we can best help in practical ways. Our approach has always aimed to be adaptable and innovative, allowing us to serve our beneficiaries in ways that center their voices, helping them help themselves. Support provided so far during the Corona crisis includes individual check-ins with each family to see how they’re doing, offering emotional and practical support. Under complex conditions, we continue to enable face-to-face (fully protected) physiotherapy sessions for vulnerable children in Israel’s periphery communities. Therapy sessions are also being held through video conferencing.
Despite the challenges, our Therapists on Wheels program has seen a 29% increase in physiotherapy sessions provided in the first 5 months of 2020 (compared to 2019), and a 4% increase in kilometers traveled. Our program coordinator Nava also spoke to all 85 families currently in our programs at the beginning of the lockdown to understand their particular needs. She then followed up with periodic phone calls to the families according to need – families like Binyamin’s. Through your generous support, our work is made possible. In these difficult times, your support matters more than ever.
Meeting the need
Binyamin’s Story
Binyamin, 2.5 years old, lives with his parents and four siblings in northern Israel. When he was 9 days old he suffered a brain hemorrhage which caused a significant development delay. His parents say that due to the intense medical therapy required, for the next three months it was as if he was “turned off” – Binyamin didn’t move and barely cried, he just lay in bed. When Binyamin joined our Therapists on Wheels program at age 1, his physical abilities were equivalent to those of a 3 month old baby. Together with the never ending encouragement of his parents and the professional help of Irit, his physiotherapist, Binyamin has made great strides over the last year and a half. His father Eitan told us how Binyamin is now able to walk, climb, and play. He stressed the importance of Bimyamin’s therapies with Irit for his continued development. Recently, Binyamin’s family noticed he has been trying to communicate with his surroundings and started making basic sounds. They then realised the urgent need to start working with a speech therapist and turned again to the Malki Foundation for help. Understanding the importance of early intervention to improve the chances of success, we immediately found a speech therapist to work with Binyamin. Just as we have seen Binyamin progress to walking, we are looking forward to hearing his first words.
The potential is hidden in everything, it just needs to be seen.
Click the card below to download your original Shana Tova drawing proudly created by Michal and turned into a work of art by her father Gali. A perfect way to make and send your own Shana Tova card during this time of social distancing – take a family photo with the artwork and send to loved ones around the world.
Michal, aged 5, has a very rare genetic disorder which causes severe development delay. With the support of her family, and therapy received via the Malki Foundation Therapies at Home program, Michal has learnt to walk and improve her communication skills.
