"Before the war , our parish offered help to about seventy people a week; Now the number of people who come to us for support has more than tripled, reaching almost two hundred and fifty people every week."
In Bethlehem since the beginning of October, there has been an air of uncertainty and tension. The war that is devastating the Holy Land has hit Bethlehem in its nerve center: the advent of the conflict has led to the end of religious tourism, the city's main source of livelihood. For months now, many people have lost their jobs and are in serious economic difficulty, with no prospect of improvement; on the contrary, the influx of tourists and pilgrims is decreasing day by day, and the development of international events – especially Israel's recent attack on Damascus and Iran's response – certainly does not favor the resumption of visits and pilgrimages to the city of the Child Jesus.
This situation requires prompt intervention before it becomes unsolvable, and we at Pro Terra Sancta have placed ourselves at the side of the families affected by the crisis with the development of a new, important project. The initial idea belonged to Sister Anna, of the order of the Daughters of St. Anne, who has been in charge of the office of the She is a member of the social service of the parish of Bethlehem and is therefore very attentive and involved in supporting citizens in need. In Palestine, on the other hand, the sisters have a fundamental role in helping the most fragile people, so much so that the contact person for our projects in Bethlehem says that the sisters "in fact replace a non-existent welfare state". With the proposal to support the newly unemployed in Bethlehem, Sr. Anna offered an excellent demonstration of this.
Sister Anna's idea
"Before the war," he tells us, "our parish offered help to about seventy people a week; Now the number of people who come to us for support has more than tripled, reaching almost two hundred and fifty people every week."
Sister Anna then explains how the financial subsidies offered by the parish, over the months, have become insufficient to restore an idea of normality in Bethlehem: "Many at the beginning asked directly for the Offers, but as time went by, receiving only money, without being able to work for it, began to be perceived as a Lack of dignity. Man has always sought the dignity of work, it has always been the possibility of earning a living that makes people feel at peace with themselves and with what they possess."
This is where the idea of helping those who have lost their jobs in a way other than just a cash contribution was born: "Seeing all these desperate and humiliated people unable to earn a living, I thought of a possible solution to help them by offering them a job. I inquired about what job those who asked us for help did and I tried to propose to everyone a job in keeping with the abilities and experience of each person, in order to restore to all their rightful dignity; If someone who used to clean the hotels came to me, for example, I tried to relocate him to keep the various structures related to the parish in order, and I always tried to guarantee An adequate compensation even for those who could only work half a day."
"Now, thanks to Pro Terra Sancta, We can help many more people: if before, with the resources of the parish alone, we did not always have sufficient funds available for everyone, now the project is to guarantee all those who ask us twenty hours of work per week and a salary, even if minimal."
The impact of the project
The project is still in its infancy, yet it has already helped many people"I went around all the charities in the city to see if they needed workers, and then I looked at the people who came to me to see if there was anyone who was a good fit for the role. Once I found the right person, I would send them to one of these works, paying for them with our funds." In this way, those who had been left without work find the possibility not only of supporting themselves with dignity, but also of Helping one's city, rediscovering the value of working not only to support one's family, or to restore one's dignity, but also to help one's community.
The situation in Bethlehem is still particularly difficult; as Sister Anna explains, "Bethlehem is very damaged precisely because it lives mainly on tourism, and the economic damage caused by its interruption is enormous, and destined to grow further." But despite the difficulties, she is hopeful, and leaves us with a note of hope: "Thanks to the help of Pro Terra Sancta and other organizations, it will be possible to overcome this too, and rebuild Bethlehem. This initiative is just one example of all the ways in which we can help people in need: we must continue to work together to build a better future for Bethlehem and for the whole Holy Land."
