"I can't even quantify what I've learned," said Susan Cline, who feels a sisterly bond with Alice, having discovered an unexpected commonality with a woman whose native language is Shona.
"She's so strong, she's so smart," Cline said, expressing admiration for the way in which Alice has resisted limiting herself to traditional gender roles in Zimbabwe, as well as the way she fiercely pursued help for Maka.
"I've also learned just how terribly easy we have it here," Cline said, saying that in Alice's company, she has almost felt embarrassed by how fortunate we are to have world-class medical care, sprawling homes and gleaming grocery stores filled with thousands of choices.
At Childrens Hospital, where Cline has just become manager of nursing operations in the emergency room, Hammoudeh has been moved by the evolving bond between Maka's family and her hosts. When he was told that a burn victim from a bombing in Gaza might be one of his next patients, but hasn't yet found an Arabic-speaking host family, Hammoudeh raised his hand, and he and his wife are now doing the paperwork.
"I speak Arabic," said Hammoudeh, who was born in Jerusalem and said he went into pediatric reconstructive surgery because the patients are innocent victims of circumstances beyond their control.
"Zimbabwe, the Middle East, Russia. It doesn't matter where they're from."
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steve.lopez@latimes.com
