Over the past year, we’ve been developing programming and training, together with a wide range of partners, in different disciplines to help and empower the African refugee community in Jerusalem, and to educate local service providers in how to give the community culturally sensitive care. (For more information, click here, here and here.) Here are a few examples of our work:
In late September we organized a first aid course at the Well Baby Clinic, with translation into Tigrinya, a language spoken by many African refugees. There were 9 participants, and all took the course very seriously. The translators all came from the refugee community in Jerusalem, and all were graduates of a medical interpretation course.
Well Baby Clinic first aid course
At the end of August (27/8) we held a story hour for the children and their parents. It was open to all children in the city center, both refugee and Israeli. The story teller told of Mulu and Tzagai, who had to leave their home and deal with a great number of dangers until they reached safety. After the story there were activities that helped the heroes of the story reach their destination.
Mulu and Tzagai story hour
On July 30, the well-baby clinic that serves the city center held a workshop for African refugee parents on early child development and dental health. Here, too, the workshop included translation by a trained medical interpreter. Parents showed a great deal of interest, and requested additional workshops. We and the well-baby clinic staff put a lot of thought into the workshop – and even brought a black baby to the demonstration – which the parents greatly appreciated.
Well Baby Clinic demonstration
