Since 2011, the Association pro Terra Sancta has been committed to supporting the poorest families in Bethlehem, repairing and replacing domestic plumbing systems and installing solar panels, boilers and water tanks with the aim of making homes habitable. The lack of water is indeed one of the major problems facing Palestinian society on a daily basis. In the summer period the situation worsens further due to the high temperatures and the absence of rainfall, and many families find themselves in a state of great difficulty in accessing water resources. Palestinians cannot have permits to dig wells beyond a certain depth, and the right itself to extract water from the ground is subject to severe limitations. They must therefore use a secondary water network, obsolete and with a lower water transport capacity, so inefficient that more than 40% of the water is dispersed or irreparably polluted.
The pro Terra Sancta Association team intervenes in the old city of Bethlehem, where the problem of water is greater. People, for a water distribution every 20 days, must install collection tanks on the roofs of houses, many of which to date are rusted and oxidized. The poor quality of the water leads to precarious sanitary and hygienic conditions with several children suffering from diseases related to the lack of clean water.
Precisely because of these problems, starting from February 2019, the Caritas Antoniana of Padua began to finance this project, thus helping to help 20 Christian families in the historic center of Bethlehem.
An elderly lady who lives in the old city expressed much gratitude for the work done in her home by sending a letter to the office of the Association pro Terra Sancta in Bethlehem. “Please accept my sincere thanks for your help. I am truly grateful for your generosity in changing my damaged canisters. You have done something fundamental in this very difficult time. And I want to thank you all: from donors, to employees, and to those who work within the Association pro Terra Sancta. ”The simplicity of these graces help us to carry out our daily commitment, and above all make us feel part of a community that has need everyone to move forward.
