They deserve a vacation too!
Dozens of children with cancer, young survivors, and their families spent their summer holiday on a Family Vacation sponsored by the Israel Cancer Association (ICA).
Just before the summer vacation ended, about 100 children with cancer, young survivors, their siblings and parents, spent a few days together at the Shefayim Water Park, on an annual vacation organized by ICA.
Each year, the ICA organizes a three day vacation for scores of children with cancer as well as young cancer survivors, who are accompanied by their families. This vacation aims to unite the entire family after many days and months of separation due to the disease, and gives family members a respite and time to "recharge their batteries" to persist in their battle against cancer. When the vacation ends some of the children will begin the school year, after a prolonged interlude of treatments and hospital admittances. And some of the children will return to the hospital ward for further treatment. "During the vacation itself", says a father of one of the children, "the family is finally together, and we try to forget the difficult year we've been through".
For several days the children, their siblings and parents forgot the daily suffering they endure and allowed themselves to smile again, play outdoors, spend time together indulging in sumptuous meals, have fun at the water park, participate in beauty care workshops, bounce on inflatable attractions and enjoy laughter workshops, as well as many other activities and pampering events.
The participants who took part in the vacation arrived from all over Israel, as far as Arab villages in the north, a kibbutz in the south and the central region. There were families consisting of 10 siblings and there was also a single parent family comprised of a daughter and mother.
There were families for whom this was their very first vacation, and there was also a family that has returned to take part in this vacation with their son for the past 14 consecutive years, since their child contracted cancer at the age of one month!
During the course of the year, ICA tutors accompany these children and help them catch up on their school work, so they can reintegrate more easily and quickly when they recover and go back to school.