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November 24, 2023

Bethlehem 3D: A “Smart City”

Healthcare consulting, Muslim doctor and woman for hospital support, medical surgeon or physiotherapy. Islamic charity, Arab nurse or volunteer caregiver at nursing home for patient rehabilitation

It is a major humanitarian service and the first of its kind to be licensed by the Palestinian Minister of Health: last August 1, the "Bethlehem Foundation for Palliative Home Care for People with Incurable Diseases" launched its service.

TAMER JAMAL ALJAFARI Director of the nursing department "Palliative care is a method we use to improve patients' quality of life, the best possible way to live through all stages of illness. Our goal is not only the patient, but also those close to them."

Br RAMI ASAKRIEH, ofm Latin priest of Bethlehem and local representative of the Foundation According to Church teaching, every person should face illness with proper spiritual, psychological and medical care, and be surrounded by people who give them love, comfort and strength to overcome the illness or live it with faith and dignity. When a patient comes home from the hospital, family members often do not know how to care for them, or do not have the resources to do so. The Foundation tries to bring all these things together.

Palliative care services include providing equipment that the patient would need that is not normally available in the home, such as oxygen machines, anti-decubitus mattresses, and wheelchairs. Pain relief is very important for these patients, but it does not depend on medication alone.

TAMER JAMAL ALJAFARI Director of the nursing department At this stage, patients usually look for someone to support them socially and psychologically. They need to have family close by - their spouse, their children. Many people who become ill, in Palestine, lose their jobs or their social recognition. Some are suffering because they feel that they have lost their family support function since they became ill. We try to intervene in these situations and give support to patients psychologically, physically and morally.

HUDA BABIESH Bethlehem When the workers come, I feel better psychologically: they talk to me, they speak nice words to me, they ease my pain a lot.

Prof PHILIP HOPKINS Secretary Bethlehem Home Palliative Care Foundation (GB) "Our desire is to improve the quality of life for the people of Bethlehem. One of the big gaps in providing a good quality of life for all is the absence of palliative care in Palestine."

Br RAMI ASAKRIEH, ofm Latin priest of Bethlehem and local representative of the Foundation "The arrival of this service in Palestine is a gift from the Lord, especially in our homes in Bethlehem! I hope it will develop throughout Palestine."

RASHA SHAMIEH Executive Director - Bethlehem Home Palliative Care "This service is provided in Bethlehem Governorate, which includes Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour and its suburbs. The palliative care provided by our institution embraces all religions and all ages." Bethlehem Home Palliative Care is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations.

RASHA SHAMIEH Executive Director - Bethlehem Home Palliative Care "We need people and organizations to support us in covering the costs of palliative care for many patients who cannot afford care at home."

Fr GUS O’REILY Founder Bethlehem Home Palliative Care Foundation (GB) "We have little funding, but we would like to expand our care. We rely on the generosity of so many people to achieve this goal."

Spk 1 Palliative care also includes caring for the patient's family members.

TAMER JAMAL ALJAFARI Director of the nursing department "When we ask a patient's parents how they feel about a child's illness, they immediately start crying. When we listen to them, it is already a cure."

RASHA SHAMIEH Executive Director - Bethlehem Home Palliative Care "The nurses working in the institute are university graduates, have hospital experience and have undergone national and international training in palliative care." The seeds of this service, which has borne fruit these days, grew out of a pilgrimage to the "City of Christmas."

Fr GUS O’REILY Founder Bethlehem Home Palliative Care Foundation (GB) "It all started very simply, when I first came in 2010 to the place where our Lord Jesus Christ was born. I sat there in silence and saw the empty manger, and then I thought about the other needs in this city."