Red Crescent. When a hotel near our Center was converted into a major Palestinian maternity hospital in 1995, LDS Charities provided its first switchboard. Our hygiene kits are given to mothers when they leave the hospital. Each month 300 babies are delivered here (3,600 per year) -- a lot of kits.As one of our largest kits recipients, Red Crescent has sent nurses & staff to help assemble kits. Then came extra good refreshments & comaraderie.
Some of our BYU nursing students at the JC in Fall '10 spent a week working at this maternity hospital. On 9/28/10 we visited the Medical Director (Dr. Shabani, educated at Columbia Univ.) & Nursing Director (Salam Kan'an)--both very gracious. We were impressed with the personnel & facility. Although crowded, it is equipped with modern technology and provides the best of care.
On 6/6/11 we met the Chairman & the Secretary of the Board. They showed us plans to acquire & expand another prior hotel at the base of our same hill.
Makassed Hospital. The largest hospital serving the West Bank & Gaza is another close neighbor. It takes harder cases than Red Crescent and serves persons not covered by Israeli insurance.
On 1/15/11 we met Ahmad Jadallah, their Director of Social Services. His was the first such department in any West Bank hospital.
They had just set up a children's library and game room for psycho-social & vocational therapy -- another first for a West Bank hospital.
It was in the Pediatrics Ward, between their Lounge and ICU. The halls were clean & neat, with gayly decorated walls.
On 1/19/12 we returned to inspect their use of several items provided by the JC and LDS Charities for their Play Room.
We met Ahmed, Anwar (trained in France & Algeria), Nabila (spoke good English) and an intern from Birzit Univ. On the desk behind them was the computer we had provided.
Toward the back of the room, we saw shelves & cabinets well stocked with educational toys & games that we helped them acquire. A young patient was there reading a book then playing a "memory game."
Facing the front, we saw more books, videos, cooking and tool kits being used for social and vocational therapy.
Hospitals can seem cold & intimidating to young patients. So these items in such a cheerful setting helps them to adapt more readily.
On 1/15/11, he showed us around the hospital & explained how patients' families used our hygiene kits while living there -- and how they also used our excess JC blankets. Their Neo-Natal Depart. cared for many premie babies, including two sets of recent quintuplets. All survived and are now doing well.
ASPH: Arab Society for Physically Handicapped. Near Saladin St. & the Old City, this charity provides mobility devices & rehab services to the disabled.
The director (Akram Okkeh, stricken with childhood polio) & his asst. Niveen Eweis are in charge. On 2/21/11 we returned to inspect walkers, crutches & 4-point walking sticks we helped them acquire from a Hebron supplier.
Niveen demonstrated how some disabled persons can learn computer, musical and other skills in their rehab room.Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious meal together at a nearby restaurant.
Music Graduation. On 7/24/11, after attending women's society bazaars at Beit Safafa & the Negev, we went to the Makassed College for a music program. It was hosted by Niveen, Akram & the Chairman of their Board.
This was the same auditorium where Nur al Ain held its summer camp celebration 3 days earlier. (See below.) Young students from families with disabilities showed what they could do after just one year of music lessons -- on guitars & ouds.
Also on keyboard and drums (much to young Akram's delight).
Then they did a grand finale before receiving their graduation certificates.
Participants and attenders were nicely dressed -- some in all-white attire.
These young people, their instructors and families should all be very proud.
On 2/28/12 we returned with the Schafers to say goodbye to Akram & Niveen. We will miss these dear friends.
UCS: Union of Charitable Societies. On 2/22/11 we visited this important umbrella organization. It serves as a bridge between 150 non-profit charities and various support organizations like ours -- almost like a United Way.
We met Youssef Kirry, Director-General at their offices. He showed us some interesting early photos of the Old City.
In Dec. 2010 the head of this charity came alone to our annual Christmas program at the JC. His charity serves many visually impaired or other disabled children & adults. In Nov. 2010 he ran in the New York Marathon and won the trophy he is showing below.
The adult recreation and mentoring center is near Saladin St. and the Old City walls. His computers operate by voice recognition and can make internet conversion to text in braille. Adult patrons enjoy musical instruments and board games.
On 4/11/11 we saw plenty of space for judo, wrestling, yoga and other games.
Siraj Children's School for the blind. Even closer to our JC is this integration school (ages 3 to 9), in Wadi al Joz. Many cheerful kids greeted us.
The facility seemed adequate -- but the society needed more room to expand. Private schools like this fill a great need here, as the city could not accommodate over 9,000 children in East Jerusalem public schools!
On 9/27/11, we visited their new facilities -- also in Wadi al Joz, closer to their adult facility. They have a 3-year lease on space the city & Ministry of Education had occupied. Renovations were still underway.
There was some secure outside play area, below street level and free from traffic or other neighborhood dangers.
Inside were a computer lab & resource center, where the 7 new computers we have provided are being installed.
They also have 6 new classrooms and an office.
This 10-room facility will serve their needs until they can acquire & own their own property -- some day, perhaps!
Summer Camp / Festival. On 7/10/11 -- the same day as at Beit Safafa [see July '11 post, Humanitarians -- West Jerusalem] -- 10 students and I conducted an hour of summer camp for Nur al-Ain at Augusta Victoria Hospital's inner courtyard. In addition to face painting, another group did active games like "Duck-duck goose," "Ring Around the Rosie" & "London Bridge is Falling Down." Since my camera broke on 7/4/11, we got no photos that day.
However, on 7/21/11 we attended the Nur al Ain Summer Camp Festival at the nearby Makassed College auditorium.
After Palestine's nat'l anthem, children filled the stage with Arabic "singing."
The charity's new board chair, the al Aksa Mosque's sheik & others spoke and this blind girl did an expressive poem, while the M.C. followed the script in braille.
More Arab singing with clapping followed, as the audience joined the fun.
Some very young children really sang -- beautifully. And a young costumed bee circled & sampled these blooming flowers in the bright sunshine.
Finally, recognition plaques were presented by the board chair and sheik to deserving teachers & leaders, then certificates to participating children.
It was a pleasure to see Nureddin (this charity's director) with his children and then connecting with our friend Akram Okkeh (Director of ASPH).
This was a successful ending to the Nur al-Din 2011 summer camp.
On 2/28/12 we returned with the Schafers to say goodbye to Nur and his children. Many ran eagerly to use our new computers as soon as their bell rang.
Beit al-Maqdes Charitable Society. Another neighboring charity helps schools, bedouins and refugee camps on the West Bank. On 3/22/11 we met with its principals at the Ansari family residence and offices.
Beit al Maqdes is just over the hill from the Russian Church of Ascension.
Their facility has impressive views of the City of David and Silwan.
Past predecessors had provided food, clothing and supplies from the USA. We only provided them with hygiene kits. On 4/19/11 they transported us near Jericho to help deliver kits to the Aqabat Jaber refugee camp.
The camp is mostly low-density, one-story concrete block bldgs.
Refugees accepted the kits but pleaded for food, clothing, water ... & money. They had such sad stories and we were sorry we could not offer more help.
Next we visited a large new school built by UNRWA, with financial support from a Spanish development agency.
There, 13 other schools came to pick up their kits. They seemed very happy to receive our kits. Each individual recipient was carefully recorded in a book.
Afterwards, the Ansari family treated us to a sumptuous meal at this restaurant near the historic Mount of Temptation in Jericho.
We also toured the almost-built mansion of Nimati's sister, near a pvt. Jericho checkpoint. Her husband was in banking & real estate development.
Some people in Jericho lived very well indeed. Others struggled mightily. On 2/26/12 the Ansaris came to the JC to meet the Schafers and bid farewell to us.
Caritas Jerusalem. This is the Catholic Church's socio/pastoral entity in the Holy Land. Caritas Federation had 162 entities in 200 countries. Founded in 1967 after the Six-Day War, it helps struggling families (not just Catholics) with health & social services in East Jerusalem, West Bank & Gaza. Its HQ is in the Notre Dame Complex, directly opposite the Old City's New Gate.
Its board of directors is headed by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch. (See Humanitarians -- Bethlehem.) Day-to-day operations are directed by Ms. Claudette Habesch, Secretary General. We were introduced to her by Betty Majaj, Director of Princess Basma. Despite being ill, she met with us at her offices on 7/12/11.
Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Notre Dame Center.
There was also ample seating outdoors during good weather (if not too hot).
Like the JC, it is clean and looks new -- but it is over 100 years old. Several JC guests have stayed at the expansive Notre Dame Center hotel.
We parked behind this complex -- where AOS (Nora) held Christmas bazaars.
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On 7/19/11 we provided 40 hygiene kits to a summer camp held at the Old City Counseling Center for children of families dealing with drug addiction. Caritas also produces its own hygiene kits, similar to ours.
IOCC. Int'l Orthodox Christian Charities is based in Shu'fat, North Jerusalem. A global entity, it supports schools and other entities serving the poor in Bethany, West Bank & Gaza.
On Wed. 9/14/11 we met Dr. George Malki (PhD, Program Mgr.) and Sam Dunlap (Country Rep). Our friend Nora Kort (AOS) had managed their office until 2007, when she started her diverse Old City programs.
Sam (from Miss.) had been in busi. & other USAID/USDA foreign work. His grandfather had befriended unpopular Mormon elders in Miss.
Teachers' Village Society. On 10/25/11 we visited a charity that supports about 70 retired school teachers. It is one street beyond Nur al Ain's school, between the American Colony & Wadi al Joz. It moved there in 2010 from another site close to the main P.O. on Saladin St.
We met with Nuha Sorroj and Fatina Fityani (Board Chair). Both had met us at the JC on Thurs., 10/13/11. We also met 6 of their Board members.
They had impressive kitchen & cooking facilities for teaching these capable women some new skills to support themselves in retirement. Also, a new computer room was being set up for that purpose.
Nuha and Fatina introduced us to their head chef. She had learned how to cook there & was now teaching others. (Note: white board in the kitchen.)
While we could not give them all that they requested, they did agree to help us place school kits with needy students at the most deserving schools. These former teachers were still tutoring many students at home & were well situated to help evaluate the best recipients for us.
Sisters of Notre Dame. On 11/29/11 we visited a Catholic nursing home for the elderly in Abu Dis -- just over the hill from our JC. It is next to the infamous Barrier Wall separating East Jerusalem from the West Bank.
Inside a high-security fence were spacious, landscaped grounds.
The lovely, immaculate 3-story facility was operated mainly by French nuns.
In the central reception area, where some men were playing games & conversing, we met Sister Marie Dominique. She too was French but understood and spoke English quite well.
A social activity room was filled with women in wheelchairs viewing a video.
The wings for men (R) & women (L) looked identical. Of 55 residents, many will be there for life. One woman we met had lived there for 45 years.
Their dining hall and eating facilities were clean and cheerful.
Sister Marie appreciated our sending hygiene supplies (to be used onsite). But she also noted that their kitchen needed a freezer.
Some outside architectural items featured their Catholic faith.
Sited next to the Wall, this Christian charity also served mostly Muslims.
One month later, we returned with Melissa to sing Christmas carols to and with these senior citizens. [See Dec. '12 post, Christmas with Melissa]
We were honored to partner with these & other deserving charities in humanitarian service to those who most need support in the Holy Land.
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