18.12.2014
Dublin and Glendalough’s ‘Prepare a Place Appeal’ Will Enable Gaza Hospital Continue its Mission
Dublin and Glendalough’s ‘Prepare a Place’ Advent Appeal for Gaza has been formally launched. The dioceses will focus on raising €150,000 for the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City throughout Advent. The funds will buy solar panels to ensure a constant electricity supply for the hospital and go towards improving on–call facilities for staff.
Dublin and Glendalough is inviting everyone, whether members of the dioceses or not, to ‘Prepare a Place’ at their Christmas table for a welcomed yet invisible guest. They can donate the cost of the meal and a gift for a loved one to the appeal. Parishes, schools, hospitals and organisations can get involved by holding an event or by donating the proceeds of their carol service collection to the appeal. All creative thinking will be appreciated.
Launching the appeal yesterday (November 25), Archbishop Michael Jackson said that ‘Prepare a Place’ was responding to a deep human need. He asked people, as they prepared ahead of Advent to put a particular focus on Al Ahli Hospital.
“All of us will be well aware of the events that unfolded in Gaza and the impact they have had on the people living there. We are asking everyone to focus on a simple image: the Christmas table. We all try to make Christmas special for those we love. We’re asking people to bear in mind someone from Gaza also. Our target is €150,000 which is not all that much when we consider the phenomenal outlay that occurs in the run up to Christmas,” the Archbishop stated.
The Revd Ken Rue, Chairman of the Dublin and Glendalough Council for Mission, said that ‘Prepare a Place’ was a non–political humanitarian appeal. It formed the first step in building a link with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem which covers Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria, and Lebanon.
The appeal is being coordinated by the Council for Mission in partnership with the United Society, Bishops’ Appeal and the Friends of Sabeel. United Society’s Irish Director, Linda Chambers, visited Gaza and the Diocese of Jerusalem earlier this month.
She spoke of her visit to Al Ahli Hospital which provides services to the whole community. It is the only Christian hospital in Gaza and is owned and controlled by the Diocese of Jerusalem. Staff, both Christian and Muslim, work with great ease together. Linda told stories of the people she met in the hospital and described the services provided. The hospital aims to meet the needs of the community so psychosocial services are provided for children and the hospital has a mammography programme to help with the detection of breast cancer which is the single highest cause of death in Gaza. There is also a special burns unit.
Electricity restrictions in Gaza mean that the hospital has electric power for a maximum of 10 hours each day. In a video message, Al Ahli’s Director, Suheila Tarazi, said the hospital operates with power from generators the rest of the time but this is expensive with fuel costing $4 a litre. “The solar panel project will help immensely and save money on generator fuel,” she explained. During the 51 days of conflict, hospital staff lived in Al Ahli using staff facilities which have not been refurbished for 20 years. Suheila said that it was important to look after the wellbeing of staff also. “We thank the dioceses in Ireland. Through their partnership, Al Ahli Hospital will continue its mission of love, partnership and peace,” she said in her message.
Archbishop Jackson has written a prayer for the appeal which he hopes will be used throughout the dioceses. The prayer is available to download from the Resources section of the Dublin and Glenalough website at: https://dublin.anglican.org/resources/index.php.
To mark the launch, a cake, baked and decorated by St Bartholomew’s parishioner, Amos McGrath, was cut by Mr Maher Shuhaibar, who is a cousin of Suhaila Tarazi. Born in Gaza, he is a cardiothoracic surgeon in Dublin.
Donations for ‘Prepare A Place’ can be made via Bishops’ Appeal either by envelopes which are available in all parish churches or by electronic transfer to IBAN: IE31 BOFI 9000 1749 8394 99 BIC: BOFIIE2D (reference Gaza).
Keep up with developments during Advent and share ideas and plans on the appeal’s Facebook page www.facebook.com/prepareaplace.
Photo captions:
Linda Chambers, director of the United Society in Ireland; Archbishop Michael Jackson, Mr Maher Shuhaibar from Gaza; Alan Martin, Chair of Friends of Sabeel in Ireland; the Revd Ken Rue, chair of the Dublin and Glendalough Council for Mission; and Lydia Monds, education advisor with Bishops’ Appeal cut the cake to mark the launch of the ‘Prepare a Place’ Appeal.
Linda Chambers speaking at the launch.
Dean Dermot Dunne presented a copy of The Church of Ireland – An Illustrated History to Mr Maher Shuhaibar, who is a cousin of the director of Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, Ms Suhaila Tarazi.