HOLY LAND – Within the framework of infrastructure and rehabilitation projects, and pastoral and educational programs, and thanks to the generous donations made by the French Lieutenancy, various projects were implemented and launched in the Holy Land during the years 2019 – 2021.

In 2019, various infrastructure projects were implemented at the center of Our Lady of Peace for people with disabilities. These include the rehabilitation of three bathrooms which required urgent rehabilitation, serving the local staff, volunteers, and children with disabilities that are treated at the center. 

In addition, a sensory room has been established to help children with disabilities integrate their senses, explore the environment, and have positive effects on their ability to react and interact with the larger world around them, facilitating day-to-day interaction.

The Lieutenancy’s generous donations also helped establish a speech therapy room at the center, offering services for autistic children and those with different types of mental and physical disabilities, mostly from unprivileged and poor families who cannot afford medical treatment, and who suffer from linguistic delays, and oral and/or hearing impairments. The project included basic maintenance works in preparation for the new treatment room, purchasing equipment, and hiring a speech therapist. 

In St. James Vicariate for the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community, and within the framework of infrastructure and pastoral support, several projects were implemented to facilitate communication and integration with the members of society. This includes creating the phone application “Daily Gospel in Hebrew” to provide liturgical daily readings of the Gospel in Hebrew, purchasing equipment for the youth group, purchasing printed pastoral materials for the prisoners in English and Russian for daily use and monthly meetings, providing financial support to the migrant children in Jerusalem, as well as financing a music program for the migrant youth in Tel Aviv.

In the Latin Vicariate in Amman, solar system panels were installed to reduce electricity costs by collecting clean renewable energy in the form of sunlight and converting that light into electricity. Asphalt works were also conducted to the parking lot of the Vicariate, in addition to carrying out restoration work to repair the main entrance to the Vicariate. 

Other projects are still under implementation, which include infrastructure works at the elderly house of Beit Afram in Taybeh. The balconies’ and terraces’ old and prone to fall stone railings will be repaired to ensure the safety of the elderly in the center. Asphalt works will also be conducted on the roads surrounding the elderly house. In addition, several waterproofing works will be conducted to the chapel window, terrace, bathrooms, and walls to prevent leakage. 

Also within the framework of rehabilitation, a soundproof system will be installed at the Rosary Sisters house in Ramallah to lessen the noise coming from the nearby school, as well as installing a gas heating system and a wall heat-proofing system, in addition to the installation of a solar system on the roof.

In Palestine and Jordan, several Latin Patriarchate schools’ science labs will be upgraded to make science more interesting and effective and to encourage the students by performing various experiments on their own. 

Whereas in Gaza the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem will upgrade and rehabilitate the computer labs of the Latin Patriarchate School and the Holy Family School, which have not seen any rehabilitation or upgrading works in 10 years. 

Through its support to the education subsidy granted to the Latin Patriarchate schools, the French Lieutenancy continues to cover the salaries of all the French language teachers in order to spread the language and foster better cultural exchanges. 

Under the framework of pastoral programs, the donations of the French Lieutenancy will enable the Latin Patriarchate to fund Ithraa’ Center, a capacity-building center in Amman, which provides individuals, families, and institutions with a wide array of proactive relational training courses to “strengthen their social-emotional health, build resilience, and make sustainable changes in their lives, in order to reach their full potential, on a personal and professional level.”

None of this would have been possible without the contribution of the French Lieutenancy, which has been one of the largest funders of the projects of the Latin Patriarchate for years, financially supporting several projects under various frameworks, including infrastructure, rehabilitation, and education projects, as well as pastoral programs in Palestine, Israel, and Jordan. 

Asphalt Works – Beit Afram (Taybeh)

Before

After

Sensory Room – Our Lady of Peace Center

Speech Therapy Room – Our Lady of Peace Center

Upgrading the science labs at Latin Patriarchate’s schools

Rehabilitation of computer labs in Gaza

Training with Ithraa’ Center 

Solar Panels in Amman