At its meeting of 9th July the Anstruther Rotary Club heard from club member Revd. Iain Paton, who gave an illustrated talk about work being done for visually impaired children at the Al Shurooq School in a Bethlehem suburb. Iain is a past minister of the Scots Kirk in Jerusalem, is very familiar with the area and retains friendships there. He explained that, without help the alternative for these children would be a severely limited existence, shut away from the world and with little hope for their parents.  

Iain is also much involved with the McCabe Educational Trust and this school is a project supported by the Trust together with the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation. BASR aims to enhance the overall quality of life for hundreds of disabled children and their families, helping them to integrate into society, to be independent and to live with respect and dignity.

In showing photographs of the school and it’s children Iain spoke especially of Helen Shehadeh, who is responsible for the work being done at the Al Shurooq School. We learned of the huge support for the school given by the congregation of the High Kirk in Stornoway and of the many people from Scotland who regularly include a visit to the school during a pilgrimage to the holy land.
It was humbling to hear of the difficulties that have to be overcome by the children there and yet encouraging to learn of the very practical things that have been achieved. Particularly intriguing was to see their computer keyboard which can input in English, Hebrew and Arabic – and in Braille.

A warm vote of thanks was proposed by David Forster