Just one mother's story in Bethlehem…

ASSMAH …is a 25 year-old housewife with 3 children. She is married to Isam, 30. Isam is a construction worker, but he cannot work anymore. He suffered kidney failure early in Assmah's fourth pregnancy, and regular dialysis and failing health prevent him from working. The family has no income but is fortunate to live in the family home with Isam's brother. Read More	FIRYAL Although Firyal, 29, holds a nursing degree, she is unemployed due to a lack of job opportunities in the West Bank. Her husband, Rami, 40, has a degree in Business Administration, but he too cannot find work. Rami also suffers from declining vision. Firyal and Rami have two children and live in a house they inherited in Bethlehem. Read More
NAHIDA …is 23 and is studying childhood education at the Open University. She is married to Ahmed, 26, a construction worker who is now in jail. Nahida was happy to learn she was expecting her first child, but shocked at Ahmed's situation. She decided to move out of her husband's home to stay with her parents in Bethlehem. Read More	EMAN …is 31, and is married to Ahmed, 35. They have five daughters and live in Wadi Fokeen, a remote village. There is no work on the West Bank for construction workers like Ahmed, so, like many young fathers, he is unemployed. Eman suffers psychological problems from the stress of raising a family under difficult economic and social conditions. Read More
MOUNA ...age 36, comes from the Christian suburb of Beit Jala and works as a cook to support herself and her husband, Nadar, and their four children. Nadar is illiterate, unemployed, and alcoholic. Five months pregnant, Mouna came to Holy Family Hospital. She had had a miscarriage the year before and feared she might lose this baby, too. She worried that she could not pay for medical care. Read More	NIMEH lives in Hortas, a village near Bethlehem. Her husband is illiterate and has no marketable skills. Nimeh, 26, lives a terrible life due to the physical and psychological abuse she suffers from her husband and his family. Nine months pregnant, Nimeh sought refuge in the convent of the Daughters of Charity, who work in Holy Family Hospital. Read More
AMIRA A single mother, seven months pregnant, struggled to Holy Family Hospital. Poor, scared, and alone, with no money to pay for a doctor, the young woman was taken in by the Daughters of Charity who work at the hospital. She soon gave birth to a baby girl weighing only 2 ½ lbs. and called her Amira. Read More	RAHMEH The local hospital in Beit Jala, a Christian suburb, raced to Holy Family Hospital with Rahmeh, a 43-year-old mother-to-be. The local doctor knew he did not have the capability to treat Rahmeh at his inadequate facility. Rahmeh had pre-eclampsia and pulmonary edema, and without proper medical care, mother and baby would die. Read More