“I remember that day when I came home with my little brother and I saw down the road an ambulance with flashing lights. We were standing at the entrance of the building when they took down a stretcher and asked us not to block their way.
“Suddenly I saw that the person lying on the stretcher was my father. My little brother started screaming. I tried saying something to my father, but he just looked at me with sadness in his eyes. I understood what he was silently trying to tell me: He was asking me to take the responsibility.”
These are the heartbreaking words penned by 13-year-old Rina Levy as she recalls the death of her father, Shimon Levy. Since the 8 young Levy children in Israel lost their father, their mother has become reclusive and stays in bed constantly, leaving the burden of running the house on the young child.
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Rina is only 13. She bravely tries to cook, do laundry, dress the children, and give her younger siblings as normal of a childhood as she can. But the situation is far from normal. Rina is underaged and cannot take financial responsibility for her seven siblings. With the home barely functioning, she turned to the public for help:
“I’m only 13. Too young to be a mother. Old enough to understand that we are in danger. Financially, emotionally, and physically. It’s impossible for us to continue like this. The kids don’t have everything they need. Please help us.”
There is immense poverty in the home, and without help, the children will not have their basic needs met.
*Photo has been used for illustrative purposes only. Name has been changed to protect family’s privacy.