‘House Jemima’ is located on a hill between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, in the village of Beit Jala. It is home to Arabic children and young adults living with intellectual or multiple disabilities.
Over the course of years, the residential care was supplemented by daily activities and support at home. Care, support and education are offered from a Christian attitude of loving compassion. In the house, local Arab employees work together with expert volunteers from several countries, for example from the Netherlands.
In the Palestinian territories on the West bank, it is not easy to raise a child with disabilities.
Some families do not accept their child with a disability. They are kept apart from society and are only given food.
The different residential groups in Jemima have their own atmosphere.
The children’s group consists of children with many medical needs. The other groups are divided in men and women’s groups.
Daily activities for the residents are offered in the Eber building.
The children have their children’s groups and the adults have their own place in a workshop.
Unfortunately, there is a huge waiting list for the daily activities at Eber.
To reach out to parents who are on this list, we launched a ‘Home Based Intervention’ program in 2006.
A small number of our residents makes use of external workshop facilities in the neighborhood.
Two residents work in a woodshop called House of Hope. They create products out of olive wood. The residents receive a small salary or stipend in return.
One of the children living in Jemima is Nur. Nur is a 6 year old orphan. His mother was not married when she had him, a big disgrace in Arab culture. To make matters worse, Nur faces rejection because of his disabilities.
Ahmed is the ninth child in a family. Five of his siblings have already passed away. His parents are cousins. Ahmed’s father left his family when Ahmed was 7. He has also stopped financially supporting his family.
Sameh is a cheerful 10 year old. He was born early and suffers from hydrocephalus. Nobody expected he would survive at the time of his birth. His parents asked to let him stay at Jemima until he would pass away…
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