A home of peace and beauty for Bethlehem

Today we'd love to tell you about Tali and her activities at our Dar Al-Majus Center. Tali is a girl from Bethlehem who deals with artistic and cultural activities dedicated to children and during the past weeks we organized we hosted her for some special reading sessions.

"The idea of offering the children of Bethlehem the reading of Palestinian folk tales aloud came to us during the war period. We organized a workshop for children between the ages of 5 and 8, focused on courage and the importance of cultivating the bond with one's land and identity. Dar Al-Majus,the cultural center of Pro Terra Sancta in Bethlehem, is the perfect place to host an activity of this type: it is an ancient building reborn through restoration, which has however preserved its historical soul. In the same way, ancient fairy tales preserve the history of the peoples they tell about."

The stories Tali tells come from the book Speak, bird, speak again: Palestinian Arab folktales, published in 1989 in English. The title translates as "Sing, little bird, sing again: Palestinian Arabic folk tales", and collects forty-five folk tales handed down since the dawn of time.

"These folk tales, full of wizards, formulas and ancient spells, stimulate their imagination, offering a temporary escape from the terrible reality of war and the frightening news they have to hear every day." Says Tali. 

Children come to our Dar Al-Majus Center during the day, and the light that is added to the sun does not come from an oil lamp, but from electricity; yet the magic spreads through the air in the same way.

"I observed the pleasure of the children in listening," addsTali, "their desire to sit down and actively interact with the stories. A spark lights up in their eyes, while laughter and exclamations of surprise accompany the twists and turns of the narrative."

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.

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 belongs to Sister Anna, of the order of the daughters of St. Anne, who has overseen the social service office of the parish of Bethlehem for a year and is therefore very attentive and involved in supporting citizens in difficulty.

Sister Anna explains how the economic subsidies offered over the months, have become insufficient to restore an idea of normality in Bethlehem: “Many at the beginning asked directly for offerings, but with the passage of time receiving only money, without being able to work to earn 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.”

“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 the profession of those who asked us for help and I tried to offer everyone a job similar to the skills and experience of each one, to restore everyone’s rightful dignity; If someone who used to do the cleaning in 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 remuneration even to 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, albeit minimal.”

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.”