International Locations
ISRAEL
Project Sunshine Israel launched its programs in February, 2008. In the past year Project Sunshine Israel has provided weekly programming at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petach Tikvah and monthly events at Meir Hospital in K’far Saba. In 2008, 70 volunteers delivered programming to over 670 children and 115 family members.
"The goal of the project is to give the hospitalized children the opportunity to play and be children, and forget if only for a few hours, about their daily hospital routine. I can say it felt amazing! I felt huge satisfaction being there, for a few hours, putting my daily routine aside and giving from myself. It's so easy to see when the kids lose the cheerless attitude and start smiling back at you. They remember your name, and in the end of the day you really feel GOOD." – Yuval Passov, Chapter Leader & Board Member
For more information on volunteering, or to make a donation to Project Sunshine Israel, please contact Board Member and Chapter Leader Yuval Passov at lihi@projectsunshine.org. View recent PS Israel press here.
KENYA
In January 2006, Project Sunshine created Project Sunshine Kenya as a pilot program to address the international issues of access to medical care, stigmas associated with HIV/AIDS and social support. To date, Project Sunshine Kenya, in conjunction with New York University’s Center for AIDS Research, has grown to serve over 1,000 children and families living with HIV/AIDS in Mombasa, Kenya.
Project Sunshine’s volunteers come from Bomu Medical Center’s Post-Test Club, a group of community leaders who have been tested for HIV/AIDS, and publicly expose their status as a way of raising awareness to practice safe behavior and get tested for HIV. The eleven Post-Test Club volunteers enable Project Sunshine to provide programs for Kenyans delivered by Kenyans and are the heart of this volunteer effort.
Project Sunshine Kenya’s activities include reading, writing, arts and crafts, safe water and hand-washing programs, and special events for children and families living with HIV/AIDS.
According to a nurse at Bomu Medical Center, “Project Sunshine’s programs are an essential part of the HIV treatment and therapy at Bomu. Families turn to Project Sunshine just as they turn to medical treatment - they can’t have one without the other.”
For more information on Project Sunshine Kenya, please contact Naomi@projectsunshine.org
CANADA
Project Sunshine Canada is based in Toronto, Ontario and provides free social, recreational, and educational services to children facing medical challenges in five facilities in Toronto, including SickKids, Mt. Sinai Hospital, North York General Hospital, Bloorview Rehab and the Robert Schad Naturopathic Clinic. Our programs include Arts & Crafts, Parent Wellness, Book Buddies and Special Events.
Project Sunshine Canada’s goal is to continue providing valuable programs to children and families in need at our existing facilities, as well as to explore new opportunities and partnerships with medical establishments throughout Toronto and the surrounding area. Plans for 2010 include initiating programs in one to two additional facilities, allowing us to further spread our rays of hope to those facing medical challenges.
For more information on volunteering with Project Sunshine in Toronto, individually or with your
corporation, please contact CanadaInfo@projectsunshine.org.
CHINA
Project Sunshine launched its international program in China in February 2008. In an effort to serve a diverse group of children, Project Sunshine China provides weekly programming to two medical facilities and more than 100 children in Beijing. One facility, Peking University’s Sixth Hospital, serves children facing mental health challenges. The other facility, the pediatric department of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (Xie He Hospital) one of the most renowned pediatric facilities in China, serves children living with a variety of medical challenges.
The volunteers of Project Sunshine China are students from China Women’s University’s social work department and corporate employees from Beijing. The children Project Sunshine serve range in age from newborns to twenty-one year-olds, come from all socio-economic classes, and arrive at the facilities in Beijing from wide-ranging geographic locations and diverse family situations.
For more information on Project Sunshine China please contact Jing@projectsunshine.org
