On Friday, March 21st, the city of Jerusalem held its annual marathon. Upwards of 25,000 people from over 50 countries took part in the marathon. Roads were closed for most of the day and transportation in and around the city was more or less shut down. Fliers were stuffed in every mailbox in Jerusalem, giving advanced notice to motorists about road changes. In spite of the city’s advanced notice, some people were still perturbed by the change in their regular daily routine. One annoyed taxi driver asked: “Why do they have this race? I never understood why they would inconvenience so many people and put the race in the heart of the city.”
Zoom in on one charitable organization that has been active in the marathon ever since its inception – Shalva. Shalva is an organization dedicated to helping mentally and physically handicapped children and their families and provides a vast array of assistance. Shalva believes that the care of children with disabilities should not be left to their families alone. SHALVA, whose acronym in Hebrew stands for “liberating the child with special needs and their family,” is built upon a foundation of love, hope, faith and respect for all human beings. These guiding principles are evident in every Shalva program and much more so in the Jerusalem marathon.
Over 370 runners from five countries dedicated their race in the marathon to raising money for the work that Shalva does. And the runners are no slouches either. From esteemed actor Itai Turgeman who himself raised over 50,000 shekels for Shalva, to the recently released Hamas-held-captive-Israeli-Soldier GIlad Shalit and his girlfriend Adi, team Shalva’s presence at the race was felt by all.
Joining Gilad Schalit and Itai Turgeman were students from three high schools in the United States, as well as many of the children who were part of Team Shalva. The night before the marathon, Team Shalva hosted all of their runners for a pasta party to help load up on carbohydrates before the run.
“Purple shirts (the colour of team Shalva) were seen everywhere. It was really great to see such good work being done,” one spectator commented.
Shalit, who volunteers for Shalva on a regular basis, together with 400 other volunteers, helped a group of handicapped children run an 800 meter race. This race, which was initiated by Shalva a few years prior as part of the marathon festivities, allows children with special needs to feel like they are part of a bigger team and family. The race leaves the children with a sense of fulfillment, achievement and self-worth. Some of these children can barely walk across a therapy room. At the Jerusalem Marathon, they not only achieve this feat of excellence, but receive a medal and get a chance to establish their self confidence which helps tremendously with their therapy later down the line.
One of the local volunteer runners, Stephen Lerner, a recent graduate of the bio-tech masters program in Hebrew University, ran the full 42km marathon and raised 6,000 shekels for Shalva.
When asked why he chose to run with Shalva he said: “A friend called me up and asked me to run with this wonderful charity. They do a tremendous amount of good work for not only the Jewish population but the Christian and Arab populations as well. It gives meaning to my marathon.”
“We run a marathon and it is a bit difficult. We go home, we shower and have a restful Sabbath celebration. But for the parents of special needs there is no rest, there is no calm Sabbath, they are always racing and always running to help their children,” Lerner explained.
Stephen, who has been running with Team Shalva for four years now, has gotten to know the people who work at the organization pretty closely. “I’ve gotten to know the people who work their, their founders, the people whose children go there, and I’ve even visited the facilities and saw their therapy room. Their work is incredible. For children with special needs, the earlier the intervention they get, the better off they are for the rest of their lives are. The therapy they get at Shalva is top-notch and incredibly helpful. It is not subsidized by the government health care package and , it is very expensive. And here Shalva is, open 7 days a week all day long because some of the kids cannot get through even a single day without therapy,” he said.
“It’s nice being part of a group. You get lonely running 42km, but when you see someone else in your team’s shirt, it gives you that extra strength to keep going. For the children of shalva walking across a room is like running a marathon for us. So if we expect them to run their marathon we should run ours,” Stephen said.
Tony Jansezian, a father of a Shalva child in the preschool, ran in honor of his son Daniel. Daniel has been in Shalva programs since he was two months old. Jansezian raised nearly 10,000 shekels for Shalva in his first time running the Jerusalem 10k.
Tony, who was born and raised in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, said, “Running for Shalva has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, especially because I ran in support of my son.”
“Shalva has meant so much to our family. The staff is professional and at the same time so full of love for our son. Plus they have been immensely supportive of us as parents,” he explained.
Batsheva Lipschitz, head of Special Programs at Shalva, said that the amazing thing about running with the Shalva team is “when the non-disabled volunteers and runners helped the Shalva kids do the 800m race. In reality, the kids cheering on the runners helped them finish their races.”
“Many of the runners came to me after the race and said that what got them through it as they reached their stamina limit during the race were the cheers from the shalva youth that they were helping,” Lipschitz said. “That is what pushed them, gave them the strength to keep going, and pushed them through the finish line.
Jerusalem is not one of the easier marathons to run. With it’s topography full of hills, it is one of the more difficult marathons worldwide and hence why it is such an attraction. The city’s Mayor, Nir Barkat, has been very involved with getting the marathon of off its feet and involving as many charities as possible in order to raise money to help the people of Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem is a difficult run with a lot of hills. Kovshei Katamon at km 37 is not easy. The city does a good job organizing, and it’s a beautiful run. You really get a taste of Jerusalem – you visit the Tayelet, Har Ha’Tzofim, and the Old City. The race however, always feels longer than it really is. You think to yourself, how is it not over by now, I’ve been running for over 4 hours? But in the end it is all worth it. And the free massages for the runners at the end are nice too,” said Stephen.
In a letter Stephen sent out to help raise sponsorship money for team Shalva before the race, he said: “Don’t doubt that a small group of committed and thoughtful people coming together to contribute to this cause or any other cause cannot make a difference, because its the only thing that ever has.”
From humble beginnings in 1990 founded by one couple with a disabled child, today SHALVA has become a leader in the field of disability awareness and intervention in the Middle East and is certainly making a difference in the lives of the people in Jerusalem. At this years marathon, Team Shalva raised almost half a million dollars. To raise such a large sum for such a worthy cause as Shalva as well as many others, Mayor Barkat and most of the city agree that it is worth inconveniencing the drivers of Jerusalem for a few hours. After all, these children have been unduly inconvenienced their entire lives. Let’s take a lesson from these volunteers and runners and do our part to help out those less fortunate than us. Whether it is running in a marathon, donating our time or money, a little bit can most certainly go a long long way.
