I want to go Israel

Ting-ting’s long-awaited Journey

Most Wish Children want to travel to Japan, as Tokyo is the place which the kids enjoy so much. America, Canada and Europe are also other common choices of the wish children. However, 15-year-old Ting-ting chose a comparatively obscure place, Israel, as her destination to travel.

Ting-ting is suffering from Spinal Dysraphism. As Ting-ting is a wheel chair user, it is not easy for her to travel overseas. When our volunteers visited her, she said she wished to travel outside Hong Kong to a sacred place. Ting-ting and her family are devout Christians; she wished to take the path along the Way of the Cross with her mother and sister, so as to experience the uniqueness of this country.

Ting-ting is the first Wish Child whose wish was to travel to Israel. Her trip was not for fun, but a special journey looking for in-depth religious understanding and opportunities for reflection. While arranging the logistics to make Ting-ting’s wish come true, we did not have any concrete ideas of what we should do. Not only there was there not a suitable travel tour, but also there was the lack of facilities for wheelchair users. With assistance from Ting-ting’s mother, we finally found an ideal tour for the family, which made Ting-ting’s wish come true in the summer of 2010.

During the 8-day journey, the most remarkable thing for Ting-ting was seeing the difficult paths and places where Jesus and others passed through. She took photos in front of the Wailing Wall, and witnessed the grand scenery of the Dead Sea and the Golan Heights. Though the weather was hot, they all acknowledged that it was a valuable opportunity to visit a country with over a thousand years of history, and to know more about the story of Jesus. The journey also took the family to visit poor children and the living places of the Jews. Ting-ting could then know more about the local customs and practices; she was overwhelmed and got much from the valuable experience.

When Ting-ting returned to Hong Kong, she thanked Make-A-Wish^® Hong Kong for the arrangements, and also AXA Hong Kong for her travel insurance, which assured that her wish came true.