Variety Show of Hearts Telethon will air on Global TV Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. continuously until Sunday, Jan. 26 at 5:30 p.m. variety.bc.ca/telethon.htm
Twelve-year-old Sara Gholamzadeh-Saffar's eyes light up when the topic of gardening is raised.
"Sara, you have some dreams for the future, right? When you grow up, what do you want to do?" prompts education assistant Diane Watt, gathered with her young charge and the girl's mother Monday afternoon in a quiet conference room in the newly renovated Queen Mary elementary.
"A gardener," Sara replies enthusiastically.
Known for her greenthumb, Sara's latest project is tending to an amaryllis, a bulb she planted just before Christmas that's experiencing tremendous growth thanks to her magic touch.
"She knows what to do," says Watt proudly, explaining Sara is always a keen contributor to growing initiatives at the elementary - science projects and the school's popular garden plot included.
Brought to Queen Mary, the burgeoning plant has a new home: the windowsill of one of the school's revamped classrooms, getting lots of sun, overlooking Burrard Inlet and the Vancouver skyline.
"Sara is a very lucky girl," says Watt. "She has a great supportive family and she has a community at school that really helps her."
"Community is the most important thing," chimes in Sara's mother, Azita Saremi.
Azita and her husband, relative newcomers to Canada, are incredibly grateful for the support of those in their new North Shore home, both at Queen Mary and the community at large as Sara is one of the many B.C. children supported by Variety - The Children's Charity. The organization raises funds and distributes grants throughout the province in support of children with special needs. For example, last year Variety provided grants to 1,277 families and to 32 organizations offering specialized programs and services. The grants covered items like new equipment in hospital neonatal intensive care units, medications, physical therapies, mobility and community devices and educational bursaries.
Diagnosed with a brain tumour (medulloblastoma) in kindergarten while the family was living in their home country of Iran, Sara underwent two surgeries to have the tumour removed at age six, as well as chemo and radiation therapies. While the tumour was removed successfully and Sara has been cancer-free for just over five years, her treatment resulted in some unfortunate side effects, including facial nerve paralysis. Two
years after her tumour removal surgery, doctors attempted a nerve graft procedure, however it was unsuccessful. Doctors still haven't given up hope and
Sara underwent a twopart procedure in October 2012 and June 2013 that's expected to result in her regaining some movement in her face by the summer.
In addition to her facial nerve paralysis, Sara also experienced hormonal deficiencies affecting her growth, and faces learning and developmental challenges.
Last year, it was suggested that Sara would benefit from private occupational therapy sessions. At a cost of $120 a session, the treatment is too costly for her family.
From Iran, Azita and her husband, Hossein, moved to Canada with Sara and her younger sister three years ago, largely in an effort to have access to better quality of care for Sara. Azita, a doctor, and Hossein, a special education university lecturer, have yet to be able to work in their respective fields in Canada. Azita is currently working through the required processes to be able to practise medicine in her new home, though it's taking time.
"Honestly this is one of the reasons that I decided to move here to a developed country. Because I'm a physician... I knew that she needed a lot of support in terms of physio therapy, occupational therapy, medical support, rehabilitation," says Azita. "In Iran we didn't have any complete and comprehensive system to do this."
This summer the couple applied to Variety - The Children's Charity and were awarded a grant of $2,500 to support Sara's therapy bills.
The grant is viewed as a major step forward for the family as, in addition, Sara's therapist suggested she would also benefit from private speech and physiotherapy sessions.
Following 10 months of occupational therapy, Azita is continuing to notice positive improvements in her daughter.
"I hope that she will improve every year," she says.
As Azita attends the sessions with her daughter, she walks away with information on how to continue practising and working with Sara at home. She's gained a better understanding of her daughter's abilities and areas of weakness that she is now focused on improving.
"I can see that it's very effective. It's unbelievable," says Azita.
"I'm really happy that Variety helped us to continue with occupational therapy," she adds.
Watt has likewise noticed improvements in Sara at school.
"Sara's strongest attribute is her diligence," she says. "When she is given a goal she continues to work at it and work at it until she has achieved her goal. She always takes on new challenges."
For example, Watt goes with Sara to creative movement gymnastics classes at John Braithwaite. "I can suggest something new to Sara and she will try and try and she will work at it until she's able to accomplish it," she says.
In addition to gardening, Sara is learning to play the piano, and she enjoys playing on the computer and with her sister who's in Grade 5. Azita is grateful to Variety for the support and as soon as she's able, once she's working as a doctor again, she plans to offer financial support to the organization as a means of giving back and helping other families facing similar challenges.
In the meantime Azita is focused on helping her daughter improve and says Sara continues to serve as a source of inspiration.
"She's my superhero," she says.
Community members interested in showing support for Variety - The Children's Charity are encouraged to tune into next weekend's Variety Show of Hearts Telethon, Variety's signature annual fundraiser. This year's telethon is airing earlier than usual due to the upcoming 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games, and will take over the Global B.C. airwaves for 22.5 hours, Jan. 25-26.
The 2013 telethon saw more than 1.5 million people tune in and raised more than $7 million. The 48th annual Show of Hearts Telethon will feature Global B.C. personalities like Chris Gailus, Jill Krop, Sophie Lui and Steve Darling.
The personal stories of B.C. families being supported by the organization will be highlighted and the telethon will broadcast concert performances by a number of artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Mumford & Sons, Adele, Norah Jones, Barbra Streisand and Cirque du Soleil.
