The friars of Liguria are supporting two important social and charitable works in Bethlehem

In an act of great generosity, the Commissariat of the Holy Land of Liguria has decided to support the Boys Home and the nursing home of the Antonian Society of Bethlehem in their activities to provide training and care.

A reference point in the town of Bethlehem for youth and children in need, the Boys Home is not only a place for growth, education and personal training – fully respecting the natural physical and cognitive development of the children – but also a place for meeting one’s peers, one of the few healthy and stimulating meeting places where children can share the joys and difficulties of growing up in a difficult environment like that of Palestine.

Currently the Boys Home welcomes 35 youngsters between the ages of 5 and 17 who come from difficult family situations: 15 of them reside in the Home, while the other 20 are welcomed to the Home during afternoons. Following school, they have lunch together and then they participate in various types of activities (sports, cultural, academic support), under the watchful eyes of educators and trainers.

Thanks to the generosity of the Commissariat of Liguria it has been possible to support the basic needs of the young guests, allowing them to enjoy a healthy, dignified and caring environment, by means of improvement to the sewage system, renovation of the kitchen and the purchase of five new computers, which serve an important role in assisting the children in their afternoon hours dedicated to education and school assignments.

Father Marwan, director of Boys Home, notes that “These improvements have improved the quality of life for the children and now we can assist them more effectively in educational and schoolwork activities. A number of the renovations were absolutely essential, notably that of the sewage system, but in the past we did not have the means to pay for the materials and workers. To see them finally completed is a great relief and satisfaction that I was afraid would have to be postponed for several more years.”

The nuns and the elderly guests of the Antonian Charitable Society also wish to thank their Ligurian friends for their generous donation. The project included the installation of new solar panels and a boiler on the roof of the building, providing hot water to the elderly for the approaching winter season. The management of water resources and the distribution of water has, since the very beginning, represented one of the most sensitive areas of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Lack of water is in fact one of the main problems affecting the daily lives of the majority of people in Palestine.

In choosing to support the Boys Home and the nursing home for the elderly of Bethlehem, the Commissariat of the Holy Land of Liguria has thus chosen to recognize the fundamental role that older people play in the preservation of Palestinian historical and cultural heritage and identity, and to support the development of children who are to become the future guardians of the memory and traditions of an entire people.

Discover how you too can support the projects of Association pro Terra Sancta in favor of the elderly and young people of Bethlehem