Dear coworkers,
It is the children of Shevet Achim that often get the press, that grace the homepage, and are the natural starting point of conversations when we tell friends about the work. 
The mothers, on the other hand, who nine times out of ten escort the children to Israel for heart surgery, are often the shadows under the veil in the blog posts, whose given names we may not use for security’s sake. Through the portals of Shevet Achim, the mother’s identity is through the child’s: Um (mother of) Ahmed, Um Fatima, etc.
But today is Mother’s Day. And today, one cannot help recognize the similarity of heroism displayed by these women with that heroism displayed by the mother’s of the two central figures in the scriptures: the mother of Moses, and the mother of Jesus. When their child’s life was threatened, both of these women took radical steps, one taking her son away to Egypt, the other releasing her son into a river in Egypt. Shevet mothers are no less heroic.
These women often travel from villages they have never left, to a country they have never seen, entrusting themselves to doctors that do not speak their language. They endure separation from family, fear for the life of their child, and endless waiting at borders, hospitals, and the Shevet house too. Often these women are illiterate, but to no detriment: their lives become sermons of love. They are teacher, nurse, helper, and friend. In the Shevet community, they are a backbone: cooking, cleaning, entertaining, and never afraid to keep the urgency of their child’s life at the front of everyone’s attention.
Well yes, it was a full week in Jerusalem, and in the region. The fluidities and challenges of new children and projects, heart surgeries and outings, even new governments and terror attacks – all were there. But the importance of these things may be sidelined for a moment, to recognize those mothers of children with heart defects, without whose sacrifices and heroism Shevet Achim just might dry up.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Ryan for the community in Jerusalem