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  • Home
  • About Us
    • About
    • FAQ
    • Media
    • News Blog
    • Sponsors
    • Featured Volunteers
  • Events
    • Sponsors
    • Past Events
  • Support Us
    • Donate
    • Volunteers
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    • DVI Membership
  • Contact

Welcome to DVI's new Volunteer Coordinator

9/19/2023

 
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Shalom Friends, we are happy to introduce you to our new volunteer coordinator, who is succeeding Sharon Spira in the position. Galya Zaig made aliyah from Canada in 2021 and has worked in the nonprofit sector for many years. In particular, Galya has extensive experience working with youth and adults with special needs. She's excited to be on the DVI team and to meet and interact with all of you! She can be reached at international@dental-dvi.org.il

Clinic Helps Patient with Special Needs

7/20/2020

 

Thank you Dr. Palmon

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A huge thank you to local Israeli dentists (there have been many!) filling in for foreign dentists who couldn't get here! They are wearing a crazy amount of protection (PPE) but they have a positive attitude.

DVI did stop treating elderly patients for over two months, but we resumed the free dentures project on June 2nd! One of the elderly male patients who came in that day was special needs. His
 speech is extremely difficult to understand, beyond the normal speech impediments caused by lack of teeth, but Dr. Palmon was very patient with him. It is a struggle communicating with him the status of his dentures and the process, as his caregiver also did not understand. Dr. Palmon reached out to the patient's sister, to relay the information. Many of the patients who came in with no teeth in July have been Holocaust Survivors.

Please help support the very important work being down at the Dental Volunteers for Israel clinic by clicking on Support Us.

Volunteer Profile: Dr. Diana Gonzalez

7/20/2020

 
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Dr. Gonzalez is a 38 year old dental volunteer who beckoned the call to return to DVI during the Corona outbreak and help out. She had first volunteered at DVI in February, but had inquired about volunteering here as early as 2016. In fact, DVI plays a role in her marriage to a Christian Arab and her move to the Old City of Jerusalem.

After graduating from dental school in Colombia, South America in 2004, Diana began working and thinking about volunteering her services. She had heard about DVI and in 2016 began writing to the DVI volunteer coordinator. Given the news reports of unrest and violence in the region, however, Dr. Gonzalez was concerned for her safety. A friend mentioned to her that she knows someone who lives in Jerusalem’s Old City, and she should contact him to get more information. They began writing and he invited her to come for Christmas to see for herself how safe and special Jerusalem really is. She took him up on the invitation and the rest is history! They married in September of 2018 and Diana now resides with her husband in the Old City.

Since everyone arriving from abroad is required to go into a 14 day isolation period, Dr. Gonzalez has truly been a godsend for us. She has wholeheartedly offered to come to the clinic whenever necessary during this period and we are most appreciative to her. Indeed, she has been a weekly volunteer all these months!

Diana said that she has learned so much and feels God’s presence in every part of her life. Since she and her husband communicate in English, a second language for both, she has learned patience and the importance of reconsidering things. Diana also said that a big part of her decision to make her life in Israel is the strong values and morality she has experienced here. She is looking forward to raising her own family one day with these values and she will truly be a great role model as she continues to give of herself whenever possible!
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Volunteer Profile: Dr. Yulia Medovar

7/20/2020

 
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Yulia Medovar began volunteering at DVI in in the Fall of 2000, after the beginning of the Intifada, when foreign dentists stopped coming to Israel because of the danger. Yulia lives in Beit Nachalut, in Gush Etzion, and back at that time the drive to Jerusalem was dangerous, with rock throwing and so on, but Yulia was determined to get to DVI, where she was needed.

​Over time, Yulia connected to DVI, to the purpose and mission of Trudi Birger. She deeply cares about the kids. Yulia is a new immigrant from the Ukraine; she came with her husband to Israel in 1995, after finishing their degrees.

 Her husband Dr. Alon Zhabokritsky is also a dentist, who has volunteered at Yad Sarah in the past. She was deeply inspired and moved by Trudi Birger, and all of her incredible efforts. As a result of Trudi, and of seeing generations grow up and learning self-confidence, studying, improving themselves – Yulia witnessed the amazing power of DVI to enable youth to escape the cycle of poverty. Three dental assistants (two Ethiopians Brook and Salomon and one who also works at DVI - Enya) she works with were once patients at DVI. This is way to really help people – taking kids like these three, who had nothing, who weren’t even able to dream of dental care, never mind a career, ended up with both, and all three also decided to serve in the army and give back to the country. They learned to care for themselves, and that they were worthy.

​After Trudi’s passing, Yulia decided to dedicate herself to DVI and to continue to volunteering. 
“When you donate money and you don’t know where it goes, it’s one thing. When you see who you’re helping, and the change it makes in them, it is so powerful. It gives both dentists and patients inspiration – we’re making a better world here at DVI.”
Yulia has been volunteering during the pandemic. Her patient Yisrael is “20.5 years - I will be 21 on Sukkot” 2020. (he is the one pictured with eyeglasses) He lives in Bayit V'Gan and studies in yeshiva. He is from an UltraOrthodox family from Kiryat Gat, and has two brothers and sisters. His siblings in Kiryat Gat are not able to receive dental treatment at all. His parents are still together and they are proud of him for studying at the Omrei Dat yeshiva; he hopes to be a rabbi one day. He likes being treated at DVI and is grateful to be able to get dental care. "Dental care is too expensive - what if there's a need for it? People can't afford it. It should be basic care."
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Yulia’s patient Bar Rachamim was referred to DVI by Kidum L’noar (the municipal social welfare department working with youth-at-risk). Her brother was injured in the IDF and is in a wheelchair (also a DVI patient), and her family is in a tough situation. She is the 8th of 11 children and is not in contact with most of the family. Her mother doesn’t even recognize her when she stops by. Bar’s father throws her out of the house if he is home when she comes to visit, yelling at her that she needs to work. She spoke fondly of the delicious food she eats when she goes to visit her grandmother occasionally for Shabbat. Bar has been out of the house since the age of 9 and reported that her siblings are all in various dormitories (pnimiot are boarding schools for kids whose parents cannot care for them). She was living in a shelter in downtown Jerusalem when she first came to DVI. The group apartment was closed during the day so she often wanders the streets of Jerusalem during the daylight hours and begs for money. That is how she put together bus fare to get to the DVI clinic for her treatments. She has had cavities filled and root canal treatments here in addition to x-rays, oral hygiene etc.. Bar is in a difficult situation and the fact that she even managed to make it to the clinic was a major accomplishment. After not seeing Bar for more than a year, she came in for treatment during the pandemic, but…she now has a tooth that requires extraction and she is worried about her appearance with a missing tooth. "I haven't been here for follow-up treatment or a check-up, or to the hygienist in some time, partly because I moved to Eilat last year to be near my boyfriend. Now, with the Coronavirus, I'm out of work, but I'm looking for a job." The staff at DVI continues not only to treat her dental problems but to encourage her as well.

Volunteering during Covid Lockdown

7/20/2020

 
Thank you to Dr. Alaa Natsheh (first picture) and Dr. Othman Keis (second picture) for volunteering at the DVI clinic. Most of the volunteers from March through July, 2020 were Arab Israeli dentists, as many of the foreign dentists couldn't travel to Israel. Volunteers are wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) donated by AO - London.  Thank you to the volunteers, staff, and all those who donated during this time!

​Click on the thumbnails to see more images!

Welcome to our new website

7/19/2020

 
Thank you for taking the time to visit the Canadian Friends of DVI's website! During COVID-19, we took some time out to revamp the site and plan fundraising events.

DVI's Trudi Birger Clinic Remains Open for Urgent Care
The DVI Clinic was hit along with the rest of the world as volunteer dentists were forced to cancel flights, however the clinic was committed to staying open for emergency care. Stricter infection protocols were put in place to keep staff, volunteers, and patients safe. DVI purchased a large quantity of supplies, including disposable gowns, full plastic face screens, and surgery head caps.

Smiles for Seniors took extra precautions due the vulnerability of the seniors, however they have now been able to re-open.

While countless foundations and organizations temporarily closed, significant donations that were expected could not be sent. Please help support the important work the clinic does by donating and participating in our Events and sending in Donations.

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