In November last year, Bill and Christine Risebero paid their second visit to the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation, which the Parish supports through its charitable giving programme.
Bethlehem is a beautiful, historic but dilapidated city, many of its buildings bearing the scars of neglect and, here and there, of outright conflict. The damage caused by mortar shells to the walls of the University, and the bullet holes in the walls and doors of the Aida refugee camp, remain as reminders.
People too bear the scars. There are the physical ones caused by injury or by a deprived lifestyle. And there are the mental traumas caused, especially to children, by continued stress, disruption and a lack of hope for the future. The physical barriers to everyday life, the travel restrictions, the perpetual search for work, the frustration of sitting in queues of traffic at the single checkpoint into green-line Israel, all take their toll. Palestinians, living as they do under occupation, have no rights, and the impoverished Palestinian Authority offers very few social services to give them support.
In Israel as a whole, there are some 5.5 million Jews, and around 2.1 million Muslims. Christians, whose numbers are declining, number about 150,000, not much more than 2% of the population. Yet in terms of social value this small group, particularly in the West Bank, in the words of our guide and mentor Della Shenton, `punches above its weight`. Many of the social services that do exist, and much of the education, is provided by them.
Out on the edge of Bethlehem is a haven of calm. Sitting on their hilltop site, the white modernist buildings of the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation are an oasis of peace, quiet and healing. A Christian foundation, it began as a Leonard Cheshire home in 1960, but the specific needs of the region, intensified by the two intifadas of 1987 and 2000, have led it in a very particular direction, dealing as it does with the physical and mental wounds of a society in conflict.
It has become a centre of excellence in the Middle East in offering physical rehabilitation, prosthetics, physiotherapy, psychotherapy, audiology and speech therapy and the treatment of visual impairment. Women and children are the focus of the centre`s work, but no-one, of whatever gender, age, race or belief, is turned away. `Every patient`, says the centre`s inspirational director Edmund Shehadeh, `is first and foremost a human being`.
This means, essentially, that the overall demands exceed the hospital`s ability to deal with them. As a result it has developed what it calls a `holistic` approach, in which the patients` families and local communities play an essential part, not only in the rehabilitation of the patients, but also in educational programmes which attempt to deal with illness through health education and community support. Paediatric follow-up services, a social services unit giving support to families, community-based day-care, and vocational training all play a part.
Visitors may walk freely into the hospital, and meet convalescing patients. Parents spend unlimited time with their recovering children. The restaurant is open to visitors, and the director is always available to explain the workings and the ethos of the hospital. On the ground floor is the well-known shop selling the woven goods, clothing and artifacts, which are the products of the centre`s vocational training programme and help to raise money for it. Patients too are expected to pay for treatment, but this is based essentially on the ability to pay, and many are unable to do so.
To visit the hospital is a rewarding if chastening experience. It is wonderful to meet the children, to play with them and see them smile, but it is impossible not to be moved by their predicament. And visits to care homes and orphanages elsewhere in the West Bank show how little they have to sustain them, and emphasize the extent of the overall need.
There is never enough money to run BASR and its programmes. It has an international support network, in France, the UK and Jordan, which helps to get money into the country, but this depends always on people`s willingness to give. Hampstead Parish Church supports BASR through its planned giving programme, and every donation, however large or small is always gratefully received, but the annual budget, of some $10 million, is considerable.
Donations of money or goods are always needed, and Edmund says he is very happy to be contacted for advice about what to donate and how to do so. He can be emailed on [email protected] and you can visit BASR`s website at www.basr.org. Better still, you can go to Bethlehem and see the inspirational work of fellow Christians who, in Edmund`s words, find themselves in `one of the most troubled areas in the world`, but are working hard to `make one of those small gestures that make a difference`.
First and Foremost a Human Being
Bill and Christine Risebero