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bulletin 7 5 T H A N N I V E R S A RY 1 9 3 7 - 2 0 1 2 volume 77, no. 4 november 12, 2012 Cheshvan 27, 5773
21 Nadolny Sachs Private, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 1R9
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Publisher: Mitchell Bellman
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Editor: Michael Regenstreif $2.00
Doctor’s choices have led her to save many children’s hearts By Diane Koven Life is all about choices, big and small: whether to attend the gala Choices dinner in support of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa’s Women’s Campaign, to donate money to the campaign, or to dedicate one’s career and life to saving the lives of desperately ill children. Nearly 300 women – and a couple of brave men – chose to attend the sixth annual Choices dinner, October 24 at Agudath Israel Congregation, and hear keynote speaker Dr. Livia Kapusta eloquently and movingly describe the many choices she has made in her life and career. Born in Israel, where she graduated from Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine, Kapusta furthered her medical career and specialization in paediatric cardiology in the Netherlands. “I met a nice Jewish Dutch guy … and I decided to follow my heart and
went to the Netherlands,” she said. “My second choice was to combine motherhood with a profession. Only two women were practising paediatricians in the hospital and both were unmarried and without children.” Another life altering choice was made when Kapusta and her husband met delegates from the Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) organization at a dinner party. “My husband and I made a choice to join the organization,” she said. In 2010, after several years of working with children from around the world who are brought to Israel for life-saving cardiac surgery, Kapusta decided to return to her country of birth. “I followed my heart when my family made Aliyah. I chose to work full time at the Wolfson Medical Center [in Holon], where SACH is based.” Following Kapusta address, she
was interviewed on stage by journalist Stephanie Levitz, who covers federal politics for the Canadian Press. Asked by Levitz if she finds it difficult to choose which child to operate on if there is a choice of a Jewish child or a Palestinian child, Kapusta said it is not an “either or” situation. Children are chosen based on a variety of medical criteria and not on political terms. “We have operated on more than 3,000 children – half of them from the Palestinian Authority, but also from China, Zanzibar and other countries. ... If we think they can be operated on, we do it,” Kapusta said. “Sometimes in life, you have to give an example to your children, to your friends ... to show you can do something extra. Just be open-minded and think of what you can do to help someone else. ... It is also good for the soul,” she said. (Continued on page 2)
Choices keynote speaker Dr. Livia Kapusta describes the choices which led her to Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli organization which provides life-saving heart surgery to chil(Photo: Howard Sandler) dren in need around the world.
Guest column
Rwandan genocide shows imperitave of Holocaust education By Adam Moscoe Holocaust Education Initiatives Hillel Ottawa This past August, I had the opportunity to join Global Youth Connect, a New Yorkbased NGO, on a life-changing human rights delegation to Rwanda. For three intensive weeks, I lived and worked alongside 30 students – half Rwandan, half Canadian or American – as we explored our conceptions of human rights using Rwanda as a living case study. Both in economic devel-
opment and in the process of reconciliation, Rwanda has made remarkable progress since the 1994 genocide – a 100-day nightmare during which nearly a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered. For the past three years, I have had the honour of working with my peers to create opportunities for Ottawa university students to connect meaningfully and learn from survivors of the Holocaust. At the same time, I have tried to convey – through collaboration with the student-driven advocacy
group, STAND – the importance of transforming remembrance of the Holocaust into collective action to prevent genocide and advocate for Canada to play a greater role in this global effort, and to promote a more just society. It was with this in mind that I boarded my flight to Kigali, the spotlessly clean and vibrant capital city of Rwanda. Our diverse delegation worked on a wide array of issues with a broad spectrum of organizations – from assessing health, security education
conditions in a UN refugee camp for Congolese refugees in Rwanda’s gorgeous Western Province, to designing drama games to engage children from the highly marginalized and impoverished Mubuga sector in a discussion on the right to education. We also visited several memorials to the Rwandan genocide and held countless discussions. Indeed, many of the Rwandan delegates were survivors of the genocide. (Continued on page 2 )
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