I have almost come to the end of my stay here in Palestine.
It has been a wonderful trip, for the last 4 days we have stayed in Bethlehem, this has been good for several reasons, firstly we have avoided the traffic in Jerusalem every morning, secondly we have not had the awful Israeli checkpoints to go through. Thirdly the hotel is luxurious & would normally be with out our finances, but because of the lack of tourists still the rates are very reasonable, fourthly it has a swimming pool. The training has been good at the hospital, the nursing staff we work with are very committed to recovery & are learning more all the time, they could stand up to any recovery team in the UK, particularly when you take into consideration their lack of resources, the stigma & discrimination & the cultural norms they have to overcome. They are proud to be nurses & very human in their approach to their patients.
Adnam took us around the church in the old city & then to Afaf ‘s house where we were invited last night for dinner, this was a wonderful experience, & lovely to meet all the family. Particularly to see the care & love extended to the grandmother, since her husband died the elder children vowed that she would not spend a single night alone in her house where she wanted to stay so they take it in turns to sleep there.
The intercontinental in Bethlehem is well worth staying in, if you come to Bethlehem, ignore the Israeli advice to stay in Jerusalem, it is very safe to stay in Bethlehem & helps the local economy.
Tonight we go back to Jerusalem as we are working in Nablus tomorrow, I have not been here before, and we are running a workshop on recovery at the university.
Temperatures have been around 25C, looking at the forecast for Lewis on my return it is drizze & 10C UGH!
Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.
1 comment:
Hi Karen and Ron, It's good to hear from Bethlehem. I can imagine Afaf's family and grandmother. Her story about her son's dancing group, that she 'forced' to perform in the psychiatric hospital, and the reaction of the boys, mingling with the people who had to stay there. They asked when they could come back.I am sure that must have been a great experience. At first I was shocked by the hospital's practice. But when I saw the human approach of Afaf I was 'through'. Being in Bethlehem, the check-points, the walls, turned my opinion upside down. Strong and proud people!
Love
dirk
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