City Notes: ‘Teddy bear hospital’ to grace Galilee as part of children’s education initiative

A roundup of local affairs.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
Medical students will ‘treat’ the teddy bears at the ‘hospital.’ (photo credit: Courtesy)
Medical students will ‘treat’ the teddy bears at the ‘hospital.’
(photo credit: Courtesy)
NORTH
A “teddy bear hospital” will be set up next week at Bar-Ilan University’s Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee. The initiative aims to dispel fear and anxiety among preschoolers regarding medical treatment in general and hospitals in particular.
The faculty is conducting the project on the heels of last year’s success, at the initiative of the Galilee Medical Student Association; the event is being managed by medical and research students in collaboration with faculty staff.
Medical students will be the “caregivers” for teddy bears and dolls the children will bring from home. The children will experience a simulation of hospital treatment and will be taken to the emergency room, from which their stuffed toys will be “taken for treatment” to the various hospital departments “according to their needs.” The bears and dolls will undergo full treatment according to their medical problem, defined by the children on a form they will be asked to fill out upon arrival at the hospital.
The medical students will accompany the children, giving them explanations, answering their questions and helping them take care of their “patients.” At the end of the process, the children will go to the pharmacy to receive “drugs” (healthy sweets) and other surprises for the toys; children’s songs will be played to create a festive atmosphere.
Last year, some 500 children from Safed and surrounding areas participated in the initiative, attending their appointments together with their parents and older siblings. Event organizers expected a higher turnout at this year’s event, which will be held on Monday, May 4, from 4 to 7p.m.
Police nab 30 in massive land-theft affair
Police detained 30 suspects, including a lawyer, on Monday morning, on suspicion of large-scale systematic land theft in northern Israel. According to investigators more than 20 plots of land, mostly agricultural, were fraudulently stolen from owners without their knowledge. In some cases, the land was then sold to unsuspecting buyers through a systematic process of forgery and fraud against the authorities, buyers and landowners.
Some of the suspects were set to be brought for a remand extension at the Rishon Lezion District Court.
28th Golani Race held
The 2015 Golani Race kicked off on Sunday, beginning in the Hermon and set to end in Eilat. This is the 28th time the race – which covers 830 km. over five days – is being held, as a salute to the IDF’s Golani Brigade, past and present.
Members of the public were invited to run with or support the soldiers.
CENTER
Young woman seriously hurt in car crash
An approximately 35-year-old woman was seriously injured in a car accident that occurred on Monday morning at the entrance to the Zemer local council in the Sharon region. A man, about 20, was also moderately injured in the crash; both were evacuated to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba.
‘Slide the City’ coming to Petah Tikva streets
At a resident’s suggestion, the Petah Tikva Municipality announced this week that a giant water slide will be coming to the city this summer. It is part of the “Slide the City” global phenomenon, in which thousands of people around the world enjoy the experience of sliding 200 meters through city streets.
This is the first time a slide of this kind will be introduced in Israel, and it will be accompanied by a party for youth, inflatables and stalls, in an event that is aimed at attracting the whole family, taking place July 2 on Rabin Road.
Half-million uses of free TA Wi-Fi in first 6 months
The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality announced this week that half a year after launching a free Wi-Fi service in the city, it had registered over half a million entries to the “Tel-Net” network in 2014; 298,272 surfers used the network, about half of whom were tourists, according to estimates. About 80 percent of network usage was on cellphones.
The three sites where the Wi-Fi was most used were Hatikva Market (some 27,000 hits per year); Rothschild Boulevard (24,000); and Carmel Market (22,000); they were followed by Yehudit Boulevard, Aviv and Frishman beaches, Nahalat Binyamin, Allenby and Dizengoff streets, and Meir Park.
Council member Alon Solar, who initiated and led the project, remarked: “In the 21st century, free Internet access is a basic service that should be granted to the residents of the city and its visitors. Indeed, the data showing the high Internet usage speaks for itself. We continue to seek and to initiate new ideas and solutions, to promote the city as a leader in innovation in the country and the world.”
US donor Weitzman tours Bat Yam projects
American donor Jane Weitzman visited Bat Yam last week, meeting with residents, students and municipal employees and expressing appreciation for the city’s educational programs and equal opportunities for children.
Accompanied by Bat Yam Mayor Yossi Bachar and Deputy Mayor Esther Peron, she visited various projects she had funded via JDC-Israel Ashalim, among thean English room at the Harel School; a library at the Bayit Vagan school; a computer room at the Hammer School and professional training for teachers; a student orchestra and the purchase of musical instruments; the purchase of sports equipment; bar and bat mitzva ceremonies; and tablets for students.
This is the initiative’s ninth year in various schools in the city, with the aim of advancing veteran immigrant families and their children. The program began with some 200 children and their families taking part in significant cultural and learning enrichment projects, incorporating tennis, music and community-building.
SOUTH
Shooting outside Eilat mall leaves 3 injured
A shooting outside Eilat’s Pninat Eilat Mall on Saturday evening left three people injured; all were transferred to the city’s Joseftal Hospital – one in serious condition, the other two in moderate condition.
Police said the motive behind the incident appeared to be criminal.
Young Ashdod couple are ballroom-dance world champions
A young Israeli couple recently won the title of world champions of ballroom dancing in the Latin dance category, up to age 21; 17-year Liana Audikatza and 20-year-old Artium Liaskroski from Ashdod beat 80 couples in the competition held in Moldova.
Audikatza isn’t the only talented dancer in her family, with two brothers who are Israeli ballroom-dance champions.
8 Torah scrolls rescued from Kiryat Gat synagogue fire
Eight Torah scrolls were rescued after a fire broke out at a synagogue on Kiryat Gat’s Margalit Street overnight Sunday; a team of firefighters arrived on the scene and put out the blaze. Two people were lightly injured and were treated by United Hatzalah volunteers from the city’s branch.
Branch head Yisrael Eichental said that when he arrived on the scene along with the other volunteers, the synagogue was still burning; the damage to the Torah scrolls was only external. The circumstances of the fire were under investigation.


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