- Israel

Neither a Life of Struggle nor Falling Rockets can Ruin Dana's Positive Outlook

Dana, 70, has lived in Ma'alot since her family moved to Israel in 1960 from Morocco. In younger, happier times, she worked in a factory and raised eight children, four of whom still live in Ma'alot.

Unfortunately, recent years have not been kind to Dana. In a tragic turn of events, four of her relatives were killed in a car accident. Five years ago, her husband passed away and, less than one year later, a son fell ill to cancer and soon also died.

After surviving these difficult events, Dana was preparing for quiet in her golden years. However, this dream came to a crashing halt with the shrill cry of air-raid sirens and the booming of rockets spraying across Israel's northern border. Not only does the elderly woman live in one of the cities hardest hit by rockets, three fell in her immediate vicinity making the war very real for her.

The vividness of this latest horror made it easy to convince Dana to leave Ma'alot for a respite a couple of weeks ago. Sponsored by JDC, she and other Jewish and Arab Israeli seniors from the area were brought to a Jerusalem hotel for a five-day reprieve from the stress and chaos of the north.

During periods when Dana was at home and confined to a sealed room, volunteers from the Ma'alot-Tarshiha Day Care Center eased her frazzled nerves by visiting and calling on a regular basis. They also provided her with hot meals. The Center, which serves some 42% of the community's elderly, offers a variety of services for normal and special needs populations including occupational and physical therapy, personal care, as well as social and therapeutic activities.

Because life has been hard on Dana, she appreciates everything she has and is given. Determined not to let the circumstances of her life taint her warm disposition, she a positive outlook and does not take for granted her own health and physical abilities. She knows what it meant for volunteers to risk life and limb to bring her food and supplies.

"I want to truly and sincerely thank all of you who gave me the support and encouragement I so desperately needed during this difficult time," says Dana. "I was treated with a full and open heart by people who are genuinely concerned about my welfare, and for that I am truly grateful."

August 2006