Jeel al Amal ( Generation of Hope) – Link with Fogo Church Scotland

This is the email which arrived in January:

Dear Mr. Peter and friends at Fogo Church,
The sports Hall is back to life again!  Today has been special for the children with the arrival of the new sports equipment that you have helped provide for them. Their joy exceeded any.. they were running around, happily jumping at the trampoline while others enjoyed football and some silent games. It was such a joy seeing them so happy thanks to you. Please on behalf of the children please thank all our friends at Fogo Church for making this possible for the children at Jeel. We cannot thank you enough for making this day extra special in those difficult times, truly you are the light shining in the darkness. May God bless you all and keep you safe. 

Blessings and much love.

Najwa and the children

A year ago our Fogo Parish Church pilgrims were in the Holy Land. Our guide, Nael, took us to visit the Jeel al Amal Boys’ School in Bethany. It is a wonderful place run by caring and committed staff. We came home determined to do something to help them. Fund-raising was difficult because of all of the covid problems but we each chipped in and sent £3,000 to the school as a Christmas present. The short video (above) shows how the money has been spent.

Pete Gibbens, our link with the Jeel al Amal School in Bethany, is in regular contact with the school and recently received the following email:

Dear Mr. Peter,
This is great news that life is a bit back to normal. Pray for all our dear friends, may God keep them all safe. I will send you a short documentary of four minutes about Jeel al Amal . It pretty much sums it all. Hope it is good, please let me know otherwise I can send more pictures.

Blessings and warmest regards,
Najwa Sahhar/Sayegh

Earlier this year several of us visited the Jeel al Amal School in Bethany. We were really taken with all that the school was doing in very difficult circumstances and since we have returned to Scotland, Pete has been keeping in touch with the school on our behalf. This is a letter he has recently received:

Dear Mr. Peter, You and our dear friends at Fogo Kirk are always in our hearts and prayers. Pray that you all keep safe in those difficult circumstances. May our heavenly father protect you all. The children at Jeel al Amal are doing fine and we are keeping them all safe. Thank you for thinking about us, greetings to all our friends. These are difficult times indeed as we cannot go to church and pray, but as churches are not only stones but hearts and souls, we will transform our homes into churches and follow it all online. May God bless you all.

Blessings, Najwa Sayegh

Once we are all out of lockdown we shall be doing something together to support the school.

Here is a fascinating slide show.

Here is some information about the Jeel al Amal story:

How it started
In 1972 Alice and Basil Sahhar rented two houses in Bethany. In the one they lived with their six children. And in the other ten boys were housed. Some boys were orphans. Others came from broken families that could not support their children. Within one year they were one hundred twenty strong!

Accredited by the authorities
Several rooms were crammed with bunks. Brothers often shared one bed. One room was used as a tiny dining room. Others were filled with old school desks. And there was a playground. Jeel al Amal was a fact: a home and school for needy boys. They became an institution and a school accredited by the Palestinian, Israeli and Jordanian authorities.

A custom building
Alice and Basil dreamed of a new building, where the boys would live in groups. A building with more privacy, with better sanitary fitting and with spaces to come together and play. And of course a proper dining room and a spacious kitchen.

They had set their eyes on a piece of land to the east of the town of Bethany. Here they realised their new home: a large two storey building with enough room for one hundred boys.

A house to live in
Since 1972 numerous boys have grown up in the cozy atmosphere of Jeel al Amal. The use of the word “housemothers” for the group leaders illustrates this coziness. The housemothers take care of the boys, with whom they have a personal relationship, as if they were their own children. They teach the boys to live together in a spirit of solidarity, openness and respect for each other.

Annual summer camp
During major holidays the boys go back home or to their families. But about forty boys have no one who can accommodate them. They remain therefore from June to August in the boys home and feel orphaned again. Therefore, a few years ago a summer camp was started for these boys. There are educational and entertaining activities offered.