Two days ago four and a half year old Rizhna went together with her mother on a long journey to come here to us. First they flew from Kurdistan to Jordan where they were collected by Shevet Achim coworkers, including Tatiana and were welcomed as their guests for two nights. We received pictures and videos from them and saw that they had a great time there together.
This morning these two moms and their children then started the second part of their journey and went through the border from Jordan to Israel where coworker Michiel and I collected them and brought them to our community house in Ashdod. Here they are starting to feel at home now and we are excited to get to know them better.
Rizhna has a combination of multiple heart defects including an AV canal, pulmonary stenosis and an overriding aorta. She also has some other genetic defects, her doctors in Kurdistan suspect that it might be Williams syndrome, wherefore she is developmentally delayed and for example doesn’t speak yet even though she is already four and a half years old.
Rizhna was very tired from all the travels and directly fell asleep in her bed in Ashdod. Tomorrow she will have her first echo at Sheba Hospital. We pray she and her mom will have a good start here in Israel, for successful treatment for her, and that God touches their hearts.