SUMMER 2005

Dear friends,

We are all amazed as to how swiftly time flies. We can hardly believe we have come to the end of another school year. It has been a fruitful year, and we are forever grateful for God's countless blessings. Our major problem is the location of the school. It has definitely become no longer suitable for children and staff. Particularly now as the block of flats is ready, and the buyers have already started moving in. Nevertheless, we were still able to continue the work under difficult conditions and provide the children with greatest benefits. Probably, the last five days of the school term made up for all the stress we had to endure in the last year. The five days we spent in Tabgha.

Children caring about other children

We were very touched by the kind gesture made by Mr. Chris Motterhead, headmaster of Tabeetha School in Jaffa, run by the Church of Scotland, who invited our children to visit their school. We made plans for May the 19^th, and arrived there with a busload of children and staff. We were warmly greeted and entertained by the children of Tabeetha School,who sang for us and offered our children some drinks and snacks. We thought they were extremely disciplined and well behaved. After staying a couple of hours at the school, we spent the rest of the day at the national park in Tel Aviv and by the sea. The whole excursion was only made possible by the kindness and generosity of Tabeetha School, who paid for the bus and also the three Duncan children from Duns, Berwickshire who gave up their Christmas gifts to pay for the day's other expenses. We are truly grateful for everyone who made this trip possible. The children had a wonderful time. 

Haneen breaks her leg

It was on May 3^rd, that Doris and Sameera had to rush quickly to the hospital after getting news that Haneen (one of our integrated girls) had collapsed in the street and had been carried away to hospital by a kind gentleman. Apparently as she was leaving the mainstream school coming back to Al-Shurooq, her femur just broke and she collapsed unable to get up again. Haneen was diagnosed with a genetic disease which causes her bones to break easily. She had already broken her arm twice when she was five. Haneen stayed at the hospital for three weeks plastered from the waist down in both legs, then was discharged and went home. She is still bed bound for at least another two months.

We visited Haneen in her home last week. It was wonderful to see her spirits so high, although she was completely immobile and bored to death. She was worried about not being able to go back to school in September. An operation is scheduled for her on the 15^th of July.

Haneen motionless at home

Camping in Tabgha (near Tiberias) 

From 1984 and up until 1993, we used to take the children of Al-Shurooq camping to Tiberias. Unfortunately, for the last twelve years we were not able to give our children this marvelous experience. This year we decided to make an attempt. We managed to find a booking in five tents for four nights. We had the great obstacle of getting permits of course. Therefore we applied a week prior to our date of departure, which was June the fourteenth, straight after the children's final exams. One is never told whether the Israeli authority will give permits until the last few hours. They are more often rejected than accepted. Nevertheless, we had to make the necessary arrangements with the hope that we will get there. It took us several days packing amounts of food, detergent, clothes, books, games, sheets and blankets. The children were bubbling with excitement. It was the afternoon of the 13^th, and there were no signs of any permits coming. There was a Jewish feast and the offices in Israel were all closed. How disappointed the children would be if we could not go. In the meantime, we started to prepare the children for the fact that it was impossible to go without permits. They started praying, "Oh lord let us get permits". I then decided to call my minister at the Church of Scotland, Rev. Clarence Musgrave, to find out whether he could help. And so he did. I am quite certain that without his help, it would have been impossible to go. We got the permits on the morning of the fourteenth, and joyfully left for Tabgha in the afternoon. Living in tents, swimming in one of the famous seven springs of Tiberias, sitting by the sea of Galilee, visiting different churches and taking long walks were the children's idea of a great time…We all agreed… On our way back, we managed to visit Akko with its historical places, and took the children on a boat ride in the Mediterranean, which was most pleasant. Everyone was tired out on our way back home the night of the eighteenth, yet extremely happy.

Modelling with dough at Tabgha

Delightful visits of dear friends

We were delighted to receive among us on May 18th, two dear friends, Mr. Mokrane Boussaid, President of the European Blind Union (EBU) who was visiting the West Bank for the first time and Mr. Rodolfo Cattani, Chair of the Commission for Liaising with the Euopean Union. Their visit came to finalize the two-year EBU project " Blind Children for Peace" funded by the European Commission. After visiting the school and talking to the children, Doris and Samira spent the morning with both gentlemen walking down the old streets of Bethlehem and visiting the Nativity. We had a wonderful lunch in Bethlehem and then headed for Jericho for the afternoon. It was lovely to have both gentlemen spending the day with us; it gives a boost to our not so high spirits!

We were also glad to receive a delegation from the Finnish Federation for the Blind on June 21^st. The group included Mr. Timo Kuoppala, Head of International Affairs; Ms. Helina Hirn, Developmental Coordinator; Mr Erkki Suorlahti, ITC teacher and Ms. Anu Kaivonen, International Coordinator. Since the Federation has been cooperating with Al-Shurooq by rendering financial assistance for the production of Braille textbooks, the delegation wanted to visit the school and get introduced to the kind of work we do.

Building Plans

It is with great pleasure that we announce to you the completion of the construction plans of our new building. The hard task of hunting donors willing to help with the construction of a resource centre for the blind and visually impaired now begins…

May God be with us and help us undertake this challenging task. Only with your thoughts and prayers can that be possible.

Stay well, and God bless you all. 

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