In the beginning, the child was responsive, cooperative and full of vitality. With time, as she lost her capacities and became less responsive, she left the people around her wondering about how much they were indeed doing for her.

This child left her family and caregivers with a deeper understanding of what helping other people is all about, and that the ultimate beneficiary is the giver himself.

Following is a poem written by the child's mentor who spent time with the child several times a week as part of Ezer Mizion' Cancer Support Services, in the Yad Yehudit Chana Mentoring Project that provides emotional support to cancer patients and their siblings.

A Mentor's Thoughts

I sat opposite a little girl...
Pained. Contorted. Paralyzed. Silent.
Will I succeed?
What is success?
Will I be able to bring a tiny ray of joy into a life of blackness...misery...despair
Will she smile?
Does she know how?
Will I help her to leave the planet of wretchedness, even for a moment?
Her mother also sits across from me, poised with anticipation
She is a mother
Therefore, she hopes
Despite all, despite everything - this is her little girl, she is alive and so perhaps...
Because the game and the smile are the balm to soothe a wounded spirit, even if it is just for a moment... a shadow of joy.

And where am I, the mentor, in all this?
I see the anguish and I feel
I feel from the depths within me
I feel a desire to give, and give, and give some more.
And I face myself and ask
You, the mentor... She is so very sick... How can you do it? Have you lost your sensitivity?...And if not, does her pain not sap your strength...leaving you feeble...fragile...with nothing left to give?

My soul responds...
True, she is so very sick but I do not refrain from being there, from seeing it all, from sharing her suffering
I see..I share... and behold I can give
Her pain becomes my own
Myself becomes she...and she becomes me
Her pain is my own
And so I give and give. I give... to myself

Rivka