Nurturing hope

Saturday afternoon, I went to the Caritas Baby Hospital (http://www.kinderhilfe-bethlehem.ch/en/) in Bethlehem. Bashir, the PR person of the hospital, kindly agreed to give me a private guided tour of the facility; eventually two other people joined us: an intern medical student from Zurich and the General Manager of Children’s Relief Bethlehem, the mother organization in Lucerne. We were all Swiss, it turns out; this is appropriate since this hospital was founded by a Swiss priest, Ernst Schnydrig (1912-1978), in 1952!

“Patients come from all over the West Bank, where the hospital has built up a reputation for excellent care. The fact that the treatment is available at low, or even no cost, means anyone in need can access its services. Social background and religion are not taken into account”(http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss_news/Bringing_medical_aid_to_Bethlehem_s_babies.html?cid=7920554/).

The role of this hospital is twofold: cares and treatments of course, but prevention and education as well. According to the CIA (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2091rank.html), the infant mortality rate in Palestine is almost 15% (against 4.12 in Israel or, for instance, 4.08 in Switzerland or 6.06% in the U.S.). The only facility of its kind in Palestine, the hospital can currently handle approximately 30’000 patients a year; as the needs of the population are growing constantly, donations are needed too. "Every year since 1963 the Catholic churches in Switzerland have donated the offerings taken at Midnight Mass to support the Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem" (article in Swissinfo).

In the context of difficult access to cares, the hospital fulfills yet another essential role: nurturing hope for Palestinian mothers and fathers! When you visit the hospital, you see the unit for prematured babies: it has amazing installations! There, hope is alive, one baby at a time!