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October 15, 2004/Tishri 30 5765, Vol. 57, No. 7
Phoenician aims to help Uganda
STEPHANIE N. HENSCHEL
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 Rebecca Wolf, far right, stands with her tour guide Kinyarea Wilson, second from right, Celestina Anyonokuc, second from left, and fellow mission member, Todd Mills, far left, in front of Wilson's house. The children began following the group around during the tour of Namuwongo Zone B, excited to see "Muzungus," or white people. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Wolf |
In Namuwongo Zone B, Uganda, no one has to imagine this. It is the reality the people have to face every day.
The impoverished area is home to many internally displaced persons, refugees in their own country. Many fled from the north to escape escalating fighting in nearby Sudan. Others are laid-off laborers who lost their jobs working in coffee fields when Uganda began privatizing and restructuring in the 1990s.
The population consists of mostly children, many orphans. The high rate of illness, especially HIV/AIDS, leaves many poor, sick children without one or both parents, and they must learn to take care of themselves at an early age.
The tragedy that befalls this slum is what brought Rebecca Wolf to Zone B.
Wolf is a Phoenix native, born and raised in the metropolitan area. She graduated in 1998 from Sunnyslope High School, where she was co-captain of the spirit line and vice president of the National Honor Society.
Wolf went on to attend Brandeis University, where she majored in psychology and public health. It was then that her interest in the health and the world-at-large developed.
It was about a year ago that Wolf began working with Project Namuwongo Zone B.
While living in Washington, D.C., Wolf worked at N Street Village - Eden House, a shelter for the homeless, dealing mostly with the homeless children. In her search for a service project for the children, she began speaking with Jeremy Goldberg.
Goldberg had started PNZB in August 2003. In their discussions, Wolf and Goldberg decided to take advantage of the situation. Wolf invited Goldberg to speak to the children about Uganda and PNZB.
"They were really interested and really excited," Wolf says. Goldberg was bombarded with questions from the eager youths.
From there, Wolf got the children involved in the Bare Feet Shoe Collection program. The program collected shoes to send to the poverty-stricken people in Zone B.
"I thought it would be something easy for them, to go around and collect shoes," Wolf says.
In an effort to keep the children involved, she asked them if they would be interested in writing letters to their peers in Uganda.
But Goldberg thought it might be a good idea to take it one step further and create a book. The book, "Healing the World Through Children's Eyes," would include drawings of world problems and the children's views on how to fix them. The book, still in the works, could then be sold as a fund-raising effort for PNZB. The children got involved, as well as some of the children in Zone B.
But Wolf didn't stop there.
She gathered children from Eden House and other area youths, including the Ethiopian Community Development Council, to participate in National Youth Service Day. The group did a service project that related to HIV/AIDS, handing out packets that included information on the disease and how to get tested.
Though those projects have concluded, Wolf has not stopped. Now the director of special programs for PNZB, Wolf has another item on her plate.
Her interest in public health and the plight of the inhabitants of Zone B was only enhanced when she made her trip to the slum in June 2004.
After personally seeing the condition of Zone B, Wolf knew she had to take action.
"It was pretty overwhelming," she says. "It was different ... to go to the community and see what we were doing this for."
Goldberg had been recruiting doctors from all over the world to go to Zone B. Wolf wanted to expand on that, and did by creating "Helping Hands."
The program is an initiative to send Israelis abroad to get involved in the humanitarian effort. The idea struck Wolf as one that would benefit everyone.
After spending nine months in Israel after graduation, Wolf wanted to find a way to get back to the country she loved.
"It's really beautiful," Wolf says. "I just fell in love with the country."
She thought it would be a good idea to get Israeli doctors involved in PNZB.
"I think it's typical for Israelis to want to travel," Wolf says, after their tour in the army is over.
And it also helps the under-staffed clinics in PNZB.
While in Uganda, Wolf visited area clinics to find out if they would be receptive to outside physicians. She found that, by and large, they were very excited about the prospect.
"It just worked out perfectly," Wolf says.
In December, Wolf will go back to Israel to talk to physicians and the Israeli Medical Association to try to recruit volunteers. She said she's only looking for about three or four participants to start off with.
"We're going to start off pretty small," she says.
But she is hopeful the project will succeed.
"I have a lot of confidence in our staff in Uganda," she says.
To make a donation to PNZB or to get involved, visit www.relievezoneb.org.
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