Al Shurooq School for Blind children in Bethlehem

This year, the PCC were approached by Canon Philip Norwood on behalf of the McCabe Educational Trust which supports the Al Shurooq School for Blind Children in Bethlehem. Canon Philip is a longstanding friend of the chuches in the Langtons and many parishioners have enjoyed trips to the Holy Land with Philip, including several members of the PCC. It seemed a natural choice for the team to support a cause so close to Philip’s heart.

He sent the following report which explains the needs of the school for the future and which we hope our Christmas Appeal can support. You can donate online via the button link and also in person at St Peter’s in our services over the Christmas period, starting with our Carol Service on Tuesday 17th December and running right through until Twelfth Night on 5th January, 2025. We thank you for your continued support, as ever.

Report by local representative of the McCabe Educational Trust, Natasha Albina, November 2024

Natasha visited Al Shurooq where she met with Board members and administration. The school currently has 34 pupils aged 3 – 12 years. 21 pupils who come from Hebron, Jericho and remote parts of the West Bank, live and stay at the school all week as transportation is no longer available to take them home for weekends. Pupils from around Bethlehem commute every day as it is difficult for the school to provide for them to live in-house.

This year the school started taking on social cases of children with visual disabilities and opened a new class for 10 pupils with multiple disabilities and behavioral problems. There are plans to bring blind children from Gaza to the school. 24 teachers are currently employed, in addition to therapists who work with special cases.  

The school is facing an existential financial crisis with an annual deficit of £140,000. October salaries were only possible by taking from the employees protected end of service fund – a drastic measure. The reasons are multiple. A key Kuwaiti donor died who had been paying the full salary bill since Parents are no longer contributing as they have no income because of the Gaza war. The cost of basic necessities in Bethlehem has rocketed because of the war. The Palestinian Authority has no funds and the Ministry of Social Affairs owes the school more than £130,000. The Moslem Awqaf Charitable Trust is a major funder of social institutions in Palestine, but won’t fund a Christian institution – even though most of Al Shurooq’s children are Moslem. The school is very dependant on MET funding.

Some positives. TAM Women Media and Development in Palestine, paid the salary for 3 special education teachers for three months and the Ministry of Education has provided a music teacher who comes regularly to teach the children music and playing on different instruments. Individual benefactors and institutions have always given food supplies so there is no shortage where food is concerned.

To generate some income, Al Shurooq refurbished their basement in order to open an after-school center for children with special needs. There is no such program in Bethlehem.

During the day the basement will be used for the Shurooq school and in the afternoon as an after-school center. We are asked to consider funding two capital projects. Not long ago, the school invested in solar panels on the roof (18 kilowatts) to help with their electricity bill.

This lowered their energy cost by 60%. 14 kilowatts are further needed to cover the whole electric bill. The cost of this project is £15,000. An additional solar installation is required for hot water at a cost of £8.000. They ask us to consider including these projects in our Bethlehem Christmas Gift.

The link below takes you to the website for the school.

Thank you!