No time to rest on laurels for award-winning humanitarian

NICOLA MILTZ

She is the founder of the impressive Beit Issie Shapiro, an organisation dedicated to improving the quality of life of children with disabilities.

Filled with “tremendous gratitude” for the award – the ultimate recognition by Israel of her achievements – Stuchiner told the SA Jewish Report that she worries about children and their families who have been in lockdown due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

“All this is under the shadow of COVID-19, which has had a severe impact on the children and their parents,” she said via WhatsApp from her home in Ra’anana.

Since the rampant spread of the disease, Beit Issie has been working tirelessly to help parents cope with their new reality of being under lockdown with disabled children.

“Families have been traumatised, it’s overwhelming,” she said. “We are in crisis-management mode. There are 150 children at home with their parents all finding themselves without their usual daily routine. We are developing support programmes for families.”

Stuchiner, 72, has been a social worker for more than 40 years and has been widely credited for spearheading revolutionary changes in the field of disability in Israel.

Born in Johannesburg, she learnt from a young age the importance of social responsibility. “My late father, Issie Shapiro, was one of the founders of Selwyn Segal,” she said.

He was passionate about improving the lives of children born with disabilities and their parents, whose options were so limited at the time.

“He had a good friend whose daughter had physical and mental disabilities. In those days, there were no services for people with disabilities in Johannesburg, and my father decided to do whatever he could to help.

“He had a vision of a society in which all people have equal opportunities for growth and to contribute to their community. His dream was to bring about a change in Israel for people with disabilities,” Stuchiner said this week.

“When he passed away in 1980, my family and I, who had all made aliyah, were determined to carry out his mission.”

And so Beit Issie Shapiro was born. This world leading organisation has had an impact on thousands of lives through the innovative development and provision of treatment, advancement of rights, and most importantly, by bringing about “a change in societal attitudes”.

“We have a number of very successful collaborations with organisations in numerous countries including Bellavista in Johannesburg and Afrika Tikkun,” she said.

Although Stuchiner has lived in Israel for decades, she still speaks with a strong accent.

“Once a South African always a South African,” said the committed humanitarian who matriculated from King David Linksfield and went on to study social work at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).

She enjoys telling the story of how she landed up in Israel.

“I met my Israeli husband, Tuvia, when he came to South Africa when I was a student at Wits. He came on safari to South Africa, and I was the wildechaya (wild animal) he took back with him.”

After graduating in 1970, she married him and made aliyah.

Stuchiner established Tel Aviv municipality’s community unit in the Hatikva neighbourhood. She later helped establish Israel’s first community mental-health unit at the Shalvata psychiatric hospital.

Beit Issie Shapiro was her next step, and after 40 years, the organisation reaches out to 500 000 children and adults with disabilities as well as professionals in Israel and abroad.

Today, Stuchiner is founding president of the organisation, consulting to staff, and representing the organisation on various public committees.

“Everyday something excites me, and I have a ‘wow’ moment,” she said.

“Each one of us has the ability to make the world a better place. The last 40 years has shown me that we can all be an enabling force for change. I experience such joy when I watch our children thrive. One of ours who started in the nursery school at the age of three went on to have his Barmitzvah and recently got married under a chuppah at the age of 25. The children and their families have taught me the true meaning of courage and determination.”

She said that Beit Issie Shapiro has been the forerunner of innovative therapies, changing attitudes in society, initiating legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities, and is making contributions in the field of research and training that are influencing practice globally.

“I’m grateful to the dedication of our committed supporters and highly-professional staff. Through them, I believe my father’s legacy has been nurtured and developed.”

Supporting families during lockdown is a major concern, so, while Stuchiner feels “truly honoured” to have been awarded the Israel Prize for lifetime achievement, she has her work cut out for her.