The Palestinian Children Relief Society was established in 1991 through support by members of the Arab community in the USA. It was presided over by Mr. Steve Ahmad Sosebee, and moved to the city of Ramallah in the West Bank.

 

The Society commenced its volunteering services by offering free of charge treatment to Palestinian children injured as a result of incidents of the first uprising (Intifada). It handled the most serious and complex cases that required very delicate and often difficult treatment. The majority of such cases involved disability while there has been lack of appropriate treatment facilities.

 

At the beginning, injured children were sent to a number of European countries as well as to the USA to receive treatment. From 1991 to 1996 some 100 cases were treated there. With the increase in the number of cases, the Society began to dispatch voluntary medical teams to Palestine to contribute to the treatment of as many cases as possible, thus reducing the costs incurred, on one hand, and helping with the training of Palestinian medical cadres, on the other.

 

In 1998 the Society adopted yet another voluntary project: treatment of newly born babies suffering from genetic heart problems. This project was named "Campaign for Saving Younger Hearts".

 

Meanwhile, a number of medical teams has been formed to undertake the execution of certain relief programs such as: Welfare of Handicapped Children; Women Rehabilitation, Eye Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Bone and Orthopedic Surgery, Training of Ambulance Drivers, Training of Emergency Doctors, Preparation of Medical Teams to Cope with Human Disasters, and Preparation of Courses for Doctors and Nurses from Palestine and elsewhere.

 

One of the most outstanding missions undertaken by the Society was the campaign launched to save Palestinian children whereby a team of 16 cardiologists performed more than 50 successful operations on adult and young patients during September and October 2001.

 

Palestine and Lebanon have suffered very heavy casualties as a result of successive wars and uprisings, rendering a big number of their citizens handicapped. Therefore, the Society has adopted a number of humanitarian projects in the Arab region. These included the launching of a mental health-training mission, providing handicapped people with wheelchairs and other aids, and the organization of a number of summer camps for handicapped children in collaboration with a number of medical and health organizations.

 

Among the important campaigns launched by the Society outside Palestine was the Eye Surgery Campaign in Syria, which managed to save some 60 patients from serious eye damage and even blindness.

 

It is for these achievements, together with the volume and quality of the Humanitarian voluntary services rendered by the Palestine Children's Relief Fund that it deserves the Hamdan Award for Volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Services for 2003 - 2004.