Steve Sosebee

An American in the Middle East: One man’s journey to make a difference

Steve Sosebee tells his own personal account of befriending a 10-year-old triple-amputee back in 1990 for free care in the USA, which led to the creation of one of the regions most active and effective relief organizations, as a way to empower volunteers from all segments of society to play an active role in the medical rehabilitation and care of needy kids.

For decades children in the Middle East have been innocent victims of war, military occupation, terrorism and poverty. In the last decade alone, tens of thousands of Palestinian, Iraqi, Lebanese and other children in the region have been injured and killed, while many more suffer from the lack of adequate medical care in their home countries. This has resulted in a humanitarian crisis that in many places like Gaza is worsening daily.

The Palestine Children's Relief Fund was started by free-lance writer Steve Sosebee back in 1991 to address this issue in a humanitarian, non-political manner. By first identifying children with specific medical or surgical needs that could not be treated in their local community, the PCRF then arranges free treatment abroad with surgeons and hospitals, mainly in Europe, North America and increasingly in Dubai. Host families and volunteers are then brought in to help provide social and emotional support for the children during their treatment abroad, in which some children travel without their parents. Nearly 1,000 children have had millions of dollars worth of donated care through this PCRF program, and people all over the world are able to participate in a grassroots humanitarian effort to help heal the wounds of war and occupation for innocent children from the Middle East.

In addition to sending children abroad for free care, the PCRF also organizes, coordinates and sponsors volunteer doctors and nurses from all over the world to travel to Palestine and Lebanon’s refugee camps to provide their specialized surgical services for sick and injured children locally, as well as to train local doctors in areas where there is a lack of adequate care. Thousands of children have had highly specialized care in their own country, including hundreds receiving life-saving cardiac surgery in East Jerusalem. Steve Sosebee will use his own personal account of befriending a 10-year-old triple-amputee back in 1990 for free care in the USA, which led to the creation of one of the regions most active and effective relief organizations, as a way to empower volunteers from all segments of society to play an active role in the medical rehabilitation and care of needy kids.