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EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
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A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
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EYEWITNESS FROM JERUSALEM |
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A WEEKLY JOURNAL WRITTEN BY SISTER MARY |
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Jerusalem
Journal # 22
June
22, 2001 |
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During
the Christmas season of 1952 a priest from Switzerland was one of the pilgrims
to Bethlehem, and while the church bells rang for Midnight Mass he witnessed a
Palestinian refugee bury his child, dead from starvation and cold. Deeply
affected, Fr. Schnydrig immediately rented two rooms there in the town of Jesus'
birth and furnished them with 14 cots. That is how the famous Caritas Baby
Hospital began. Those two rooms were quickly outgrown and Caritas has
moved three times; in 1978 the present hospital was built, remodeled and
enlarged twice, and now offers care to 80 babies and has an out-patient
clinic as well as primary health care services in two villages on the West
Bank. Two
hundred staff members include 12 doctors and 18 registered nurses working with
the Palestinian support staff, spending their time in a ward for premature
babies or in the two wards of babies and infants who suffer from chest
infections, gastroenteritis, malnutrition, injuries and genetic malformations.
The annual number of babies admitted to Caritas ranges from 3000 - 3500 yearly
with infants mainly from the Bethlehem and Hebron districts. Caritas aims to
provide pediatric care mainly for low income families and the the average daily
cost is $120.00, yet the hospital only asks for $30.00 a day; the remainder
coming from the generous Swiss, German and Austrian peoples who support Caritas.
Many Christian and Moselm families who come now cannot even pay this small fee
due to the loss of income because of Israeli road closures and the war-torn
economy. One child from Gaza who was brought to the hospital prior to last
October must still be on a feeding tube.
The mother is not allowed by the Israeli Army to pass out of Gaza, but she
remains undaunted and finds a way to call the hospital weekly so that her
daughter will know she cares and will not forget her voice. Caritas
Baby Hospital has an amazing kitchen where formulas are prepared for each baby.
Powdered milk, the base for these formulas comes from Ramallah, but when the
Israeli Government imposes strict closures, supplies, including this milk are
not allowed out of Ramallah -- even though the lives of 80 infants are at risk. In an
effort to help the local ecomony, the hospital does not hire volunteers,
preferring to have
local Arab women, whose families need the income. There are, however, Europeans
who are part of the professional staff. Europeans are free to travel and
Palestinians are not. So these Drs. and nurses attend conferences about the
latest developments in pediatric medicine and techniques. Then when they return
to Caritas in Bethlehem, they are able to update the rest of the staff and thus
keep the hospital progressive in pediatric care. Caritas Baby Hospital also has
a Nursing School with a two-year course for pediatric practical nurses. Though the official name of the hospital is now Kinderhilfe Bethlehem, the name given by Fr. Schnydrig in 1952, Caritas Baby Hospital, is still the name by which this remarkable institution is known here.
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