History

History of White Hearts Center

Amidst the rubble and destruction of conflict in Syria, something unexpectedly beautiful is unfolding. There is hope, love, and laughter. Children with Down Syndrome are walking, learning how to feed themselves, talking, and interacting with others again. It’s hardly what one expects to find in the decrepit, tiny facilities of the White Hearts Center for Children with Down Syndrome. This is their story, and the story of what you can do.

This is what founder Abdullah Mohammed, and his wife Bara’a have created with no initial funding. He paid rent out of his own pocket from his meager salary as a pediatric nurse. All the staff began as volunteers. The Center currently lacks the learning tools it needs, the space to take on many hundreds more children with Down Syndrome, and the equipment the physical therapists need. Imagine what could be done if they had greater resources to support the children.

Follow this link to donate – and play a starring role in the next chapter of White Hearts Center’s remarkable story.

Two Nurses: Rising to the Down Syndrome Challenge

This story spotlights how two caring nurses – a Jordanian in Portland, Oregon and a Syrian in Idlib, Syria – brought an esteemed team of OHSU educators and Idlib Center therapists together, on behalf of 45 beautiful children with Down syndrome. This effort unfolded during a time when ongoing shelling in northwest Idlib tragically cost the lives of 10 civilians, including four children, all while COVID-19 surged in northwest Syria, during a devastating earthquake, and as subsequent flooding overwhelmed hospital facilities, medical personnel, and supplies.

Prior to founding White Hearts Center, Abdullah Mohammed was a highly respected Nurse Practitioner, First Aid Lecturer, Instructor and Trainer in hospitals and universities in Saudi Arabia and Syria. He holds a master’s degree in Pediatric Nursing from Tishreen University in Syria.

Asma Taha received her B.S.N. in 1989, from Jordan University; her M.S.N. in 2004, from Azusa Pacific University; and her Ph.D. in 2009, also from Azusa Pacific University, in California. Prior to becoming Associate Professor at the OHSU School of Nursing, she practiced at Loma Linda University, and has volunteered on more than 40 medical missions to hots spots in the Middle East, including Gaza, the West Bank, and Afghanistan.

OHSU’s Asma Taha and Margaret Wolf sprang into action after viewing Peabody and Emmy award-winning, Arwa Damon’s compelling story of Abdullah Mohammed and the children of White Hearts Center on CNN (view on our Donate page by clicking here). They soon learned from Friends of White Hearts Center Steering Committee member – and Margaret’s sister – Kate Wolf, that Abdullah’s “White Hearts Center Wishlist” included Down syndrome training for his volunteer therapists.

Together…We Imagine, Inspire, Engage, Excel.

The work of nurses Abdullah Mohammed and Asma Taha is now part of the passionate, committed, and uniquely valuable educational outreach of team members of the Portland-based Child Development and Rehabilitation Center’s Down Syndrome Program, at the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), where this inspired guiding principle of Dr. Kurt A. Freeman, Director of the OHSU Institute on Development and Disability, Department of Pediatrics, is on full display.

At the request of Margaret, Asma, and Friends of White Hearts Center’s Jim Seidl, Dr. Freeman generously approved the design and delivery of a series of five Down syndrome webinars, created and delivered on a volunteer basis by OHSU’s world-class team of Occupational, Physical, and Speech Therapy training specialists, including one-on-one mentorships.

“I am fortunate to lead a team that includes passionate, committed, and expert professionals such as those involved in this project,” said Dr. Freeman. “I was so thrilled to hear about this opportunity of international collaboration and it was simply easy to support. It is 100 percent consistent with the mission of the Institute on Development and Disability, which is to engage in work to improve the lives of those with disabilities and special health needs and their families.”

Lectures custom-designed by the OHSU team for White Heart Center therapists, with full Arabic translation, have included:

• Pediatrics – Joseph Pinter.
• Speech Therapy – Amy Costanza-Smith.
• Physical Therapy – Kerry Haugh.
• Feeding – Erin Cochran.
• Occupational Therapy – Katherine Breithaupt.

Helping Hands. Caring Hearts. 

Dr. Asma generously volunteered her time to translate each of the Sunday morning presentations to the White Hearts Center therapists from English to Arabic – including Arabic to English question and answer sessions that followed each session. Asma’s translation skills are United Nation-level quality. Her practical nursing expertise contributes invaluable empathy, uplift, and engagement to every presentation.

And just when you thought Asma couldn’t possibly deliver more, she:

• Quietly donated to a Friends of White Hearts Center fundraiser on behalf of the children.
• Graciously agreed to voluntarily mentor Abdullah, in pursuit of his PhD in Nursing, over the school year.
• Humbly prepared for her 17th year of ground service missions to Gaza, East Jerusalem, and several cities in the West Bank, including Nablus, Ramallah, and Jericho, on behalf of the Palestinian Children Relief Fund, to provide volunteer emergency medical care to Palestinian children in need.

As Mother Teresa said, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love”. 

Asma, Abdullah, and the entire OHSU and White Hearts Center teams, continue to do great things – with helping hands, caring hearts, empathetic leadership, and transcendent agape love, for the beautiful children of Syria and Palestine.

We commend and thank these gifted nurses, doctors, and therapists for making our world a better place.