My Nonprofit Reviews

A Volunteer's view of Melabev Caring for the Aged By Meryl Karbe There's a hill - a steep one - laced with non descript houses, small shops. All so ordinary in Beit Shemesh, Israel . It meanders past a small library, kindergarten and a messy building site. It leads to a a very ordinary but ordered building. Nothing grand, nothing pretentious. You step into the hallway. It looks like one of a thousand of any community centres. Seconds later the mundanity stops. A serious and focused world opens up. This is Melabev. Melabev is a four-mornings-a week programme, designed primarily for seniors with Altzheimer's Disease. There are nine branches country-wide staffed by nurses, social workers, teachers and many committed volunteers, of which I am one. It is open, however, to any senior who is in need of a place to go to. That's just some of the basic information about Melabev. What happens there transforms into something inspirational. In abundance, it offers qualities that cannot be taught; compassion, patience and joy. Take Freydee Geberer, one of the staff. ''What we do here,'' she says, ''is to recognize and maintain what is innate to each client, and maximize quality of life.'' Artistic client Myra makes a simple 'colour-in' picture, magical. It is immediately laminated and given back to her. Melabev goes way beyond offering two meals, overseeing medication and offering care and safety. Yoga, art therapy, music, exercise are just some of the activities. Birkat Hamazonn (Grace after Meals and Shacharit (Morning Prayers) are a given as is the weekly Parsha. Here, the clients are encouraged to express their individual interpretations, spiritual thoughts and feelings. Picture the clients in a circle, all safely seated. Each is given the same picture. This elicits memories, insights and perceptions from the clients, guided by the uniquely creative Yehudit Channen writer and facilitator, she of the wicked and delicious wit. All this is recorded and goes into a book which is then published. This reminds us, that though the clients have a myriad of health difficulties, memory impairment being just one of them, there is still much we can learn from them and their wisdom. Tall, talented and funky art teacher Esther Cohen works in such a way, as to give clients enormous satisfaction in seeing what they have achieved. This forms the basis of craft, which is then sold to help Melabev on the financial front, modest though that may be. ''Creativity is the gateway to the soul''' says Esther. ''It can lead the client to anywhere, everywhere.'' Chana might be short of sight, but there is no deficit when it comes to music, movement, dancing, clapping and foot stomping. When stately Anna smiles, it does all of our hearts' good. Imperial in dusty pink, she's in on the joke; maybe a certain reluctance to be at Melabev but concedes in her own way, that being at Melabev is helpful to her. She is a Holocaust survivor. Piexie Patsy in her delightful striped woolen cap, has a gleam in the eye and an energy all her own, and I really enjoy a good ribbing with the feisty Zahavah. Articulation, wit and an ability to laugh at herself emanate from Patricia and Danny's singing gives it stick with the best of them. Morris and Bertha, a many years old married couple tells us, in ways spoken and unspoken, what loyalty is all about. When dear Freydee sees I'm having a difficult-new -Olah - day, with her superb sensitivity she assigns me to be door monitor, a passive but important function that ensures that the clients are safe and no-one vulnerable leaves the room unaccompanied. The Beit Shemesh Branch of Melabev is headed by Nurse Shoshana Lichtman. With utter serenity and centeredness, she works her way through the many challenges that present themselves each day, with energetic and cheerful Mira Aronson, social worker at her side. Melabev is privately funded and as with all caring institutions, especially in these times, financial concerns have to be wisely handled. ''How are you today?'' I ask the fine wheelchair-bound lady. With stoic determination, she replies ''If I wasn't allright I wouldn't be here.'' Margaret tells it like it is ''I wanna go back to America'', at which point a sing-along of all the old American standards, bursts through. . When Genya tells me that she loves me, I feel filled with enormous warmth. Another time, when I ask her how she is, she says, in her thick European accent ''I'm fine. I'm trying to be fine.'' Shoshana Lichtman conveys the essential philosophy of Melabev. ''This is a place of love, safety and care. Each client is respected and accepted. It also operates very much within the community. The community helps us, and in all sorts of imaginative ways, we serve the community. This helps to give the clients an enormous sense of self-esteem. '' Staffer Rachel Elias works calmly and reassuringly, making sure everyone is safe. Her modest demeanor belie a wry and gentle humour. Teacher Sharon Goodman sums up her perception of the programme, 'Here we do everything we can, to maintain as much functioning as possible. But most importantly, we accept each client, lovingly, for exactly who she or he is. The Melabev programme is superb. It has become akin to a home to me, in this very big adjustment of mine.

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