Zichron Menachem, an organization providing assistance to
child cancer patients, is arranging special workshops and
meetings for talmud Torah principals, educational
counselors and mental health professionals.
Called "Ein Yeled Ra, Yesh Yeled Shera Lo," the
meetings are intended to raise awareness regarding the proper
handling of a patient's family members.
Spokesmen for the 16-year-old organization say there is no
way for an outsider to comprehend what the family of a child
with cancer has to go through Rachmono litzlan.
Otherwise both the parents and the children could be spared a
great deal of unnecessary pain. The lack of awareness, and
perhaps even ignorance, are the greatest threats to these
families, which have to cope — almost alone —
with a difficult disease, and even more with a considerable
lack of understanding among those surrounding them.
The education system, which the children in the family
encounter on a daily basis, can provide a simple and
immediate response, solving long-term problems before they
arise. These workshops offer tools for understanding and
support, basic information on the disease and its
ramifications, its impact on the other family members and the
proper way to handle these problems.
Zichron Menachem spokesmen also say that the great
uncertainty prevailing in the dreadful oncology ward causes
fear among people surrounding the patient along with
disregard and an inability to cope properly with the
patients' families, which are so in need of assistance.
Zichron Menachem workers believe that confronting concrete
facts leads to positive results be'ezras Hashem, which
can be invaluable to the child from an emotional
perspective.
The first meeting in the series included talks by Zichron
Menachem Chairman R' Chaim Ehrenthal, the Admor of Tolna and
R' Aharon Rotenberg, a senior oncologist and psychologist.
