The Franciscan Boys Home is one of the new initiatives of the Custody of the Holy Land in Bethlehem. It has been open since October. “The Custody is not just about the holy places. It is also pastoral work, and not only pastoral but also social ministry: caring for the living stones who are the Christians of this country; in particular, the poorest among them,” explains Brother Marwan Di’Des, Home director.
Since the second Intifada, Bethlehem has been sinking further and further into poverty with its accompanying ills. Unemployment, touching almost 50% of the population, brings with it its own set of disorders: familial violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. Christians are not immune. The Franciscan Boys Home accepts 26 children from disadvantaged Christian families.
“It is a mistake to call it an ‘orphanage’,” says Sister Marie, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary originally from Lebanon who works with Brother Marwan. “It is true that some of the children have lost their father and their mother is not able to make ends meet on her own, but most of the children have both their parents and siblings.”
“We have day care as well as twelve residents,” explains Brother Marwan. “Day care capacity is 35 and residential care, 18, but we prefer to begin with fewer children. Since we already have a waiting list, we will see if we can include more boys during the second trimester,” the director continued. The House, open since October, only accepts boys aged six to 13, for obvious reasons.
The children arrive after school, at around 1:30 p.m., and eat their fill, which is not necessarily the case at home. Then, helped by childcare workers, three teachers, a social worker, a special educator and Sister Marie, they do their homework and can play in the courtyard or, on rainy days, in their own playroom.
The day care boys go home at around 5:30, while the residents stay to eat and sleep in the Home. “The older ones each have a private room and the others sleep two to a room or in sibling groups if there is room.” There is one three-bedded room for three brothers. “Everyone is in bed by 8:00 p.m. I go up and down the corridor at bedtime, but ten minutes later it is silent, and I only hear their sleeping respiration,” continues Brother Marwan. Director of the Holy Land Boys School during the day, he cares for the children in residence at night. When asked “What about your community life?” he replies: “I rejoin the community on Saturday and come back to the Franciscan Boys Home on Monday after school.
But at the practical level, this new activity precludes any other form of apostolate for me. I have school in the morning, and come back to the Home at 3:30 p.m. The children are already here and have eaten. I help a little, but I really start at around 6:00 p.m. and after supper I am alone with the children. I can no longer work with the Scouts or the Young Christian Workers unless they come here or I find someone to replace me here for an hour or two from time to time. It is a heavy commitment, but a beautiful one. If one day I find someone trustworthy to help me look after the children, then I could foresee getting out more, but otherwise I must stay here.”
“Here” is at the home of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, because the property renovated by the Custody for the Franciscan Boys Home, renovations that were financed by the Franciscan Holy Land Foundation, belongs to the sisters. “Until the second Intifada we had a pilgrim’s hostel,” says Sister Marie Paule, the superior. “Since then, even though there has never been an incident involving tourists, people are afraid to come to Bethlehem. We considered various projects to bring life to the location. None could be realized until Father Amjad, who was parish priest until September, contacted us about this project.”
The request was logical; not only was the site in the basement of the sisters’ home empty, but the sisters were already active in the social apostolate of serving families with their Franciscan Center of the Holy Family upstairs, a center for helping and listening to Christian families and offering them activities.
After three months, the fruit of hope
“What is being done for the Home’s children is fabulous,” remarks Sister Marie Paule. The risk is that the children feel so good that they have trouble going home to their families for the weekend.” “The risk exists,” agrees Father Marwan, “but so far the children are happy to go home every Saturday, and happy to come back here on Mondays.”
In the courtyard on this special day, some of the boys are exhibiting a certain violence. “Of course they are violent. For some of them, familial violence has been part of their daily life since early childhood.
But there is such visible progress since three months ago. In the beginning, witnessing such violence shocked and angered me. I very quickly learned that that doesn’t help a thing. One has to be firm to separate the boys who are fighting. When that is done, I wait for them to calm down, then I speak to them together so that through dialogue they can find a way to make peace.”
“The progress in these three months is extremely encouraging. I think about a youngster who was always falling out with his friends and in trouble at school. Always alone, always failing at school. He had great difficulties in his family. Since coming here he has begun to open up to others. Then we discovered that he needs eyeglasses; he was even at risk of losing an eye. Since then, he’s a different boy. He laughs, he plays with the others and he could not have been prouder when he showed me his report card with an average of 80 out of 100. The teachers say that he has opened up unbelievably. And I admit that I am proud, too. Of course it is not just my work, but the work of the whole staff. There are nine of us altogether, including the secretary.”
“I am also thinking of another boy who came to us and whom we have been teaching in our school this year. At age eight, he didn’t know how to write his name correctly. With the help of the special educator, Maha, he began to make up his scholastic delay and he, too, has made impressive progress. Their family situation does not allow them to grow up “normally”. This Home wants to give them the chance to grow and develop.”
The boys clamor for Brother Marwan’s attention everywhere. It should be said that today is a special day in the Home. For Christmas, the Custos of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has come in person to visit them and to celebrate Mass for them in the nearby Milk Grotto. The children sing joyfully at the top of their lungs. They know the Mass. Besides Sunday Mass, they have Mass together with the Franciscan sisters on Fridays. They vie with one another to answer the questions that the Custos asks them directly during his homily, proof that spiritual accompaniment is not forgotten at the Boys Home.
After a shared buffet, the children wait for Santa Claus to arrive… they themselves gave the Custos a present, a poster they drew themselves with their photo attached. One little boy tugs on the Custos’ beard to see if stays put. It is truly an atmosphere of joy.
While the children wait, Brother Marwan distributes tender gestures and affectionate cuffs and a large dose of love, which the children return with jokes, admiration and affection. Finally Santa Claus is there… an explosion. Gifts are handed out.
The children do not rush to open them; it is as though they already have their Christmas present just in being there in the Home under the gaze of their parents, some of whom have come to Mass. Their faces reflect their children’s joy. All the Franciscan sisters are there, too, and some of the Bethlehem fraternity have also come to visit.
The party over, the boys have a little trouble going away. They are carrying bags as big as they are, in the Franciscan Holy Land Foundation (FHLF)colors. “The Foundation bears 100% of the working budget.
As long as the situation in Bethlehem engenders such social cases, the Custody must be there to help the children and their families. It counts on its donors. We have even prepared a guestroom for those who want to come visit us.” The message has been passed on. Santa has gone his way, too. God’s love will never pass.
Marie-Armelle Beaulieu
How to contribute:
Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land,
POB 20986,
Washington DC
20017-9086 USA
Website of Franciscan Holy Land Foundation here
Donation on-line here
Since the second Intifada, Bethlehem has been sinking further and further into poverty with its accompanying ills. Unemployment, touching almost 50% of the population, brings with it its own set of disorders: familial violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, etc. Christians are not immune. The Franciscan Boys Home accepts 26 children from disadvantaged Christian families.
“It is a mistake to call it an ‘orphanage’,” says Sister Marie, a Franciscan Missionary of Mary originally from Lebanon who works with Brother Marwan. “It is true that some of the children have lost their father and their mother is not able to make ends meet on her own, but most of the children have both their parents and siblings.”
“We have day care as well as twelve residents,” explains Brother Marwan. “Day care capacity is 35 and residential care, 18, but we prefer to begin with fewer children. Since we already have a waiting list, we will see if we can include more boys during the second trimester,” the director continued. The House, open since October, only accepts boys aged six to 13, for obvious reasons.
The children arrive after school, at around 1:30 p.m., and eat their fill, which is not necessarily the case at home. Then, helped by childcare workers, three teachers, a social worker, a special educator and Sister Marie, they do their homework and can play in the courtyard or, on rainy days, in their own playroom.
The day care boys go home at around 5:30, while the residents stay to eat and sleep in the Home. “The older ones each have a private room and the others sleep two to a room or in sibling groups if there is room.” There is one three-bedded room for three brothers. “Everyone is in bed by 8:00 p.m. I go up and down the corridor at bedtime, but ten minutes later it is silent, and I only hear their sleeping respiration,” continues Brother Marwan. Director of the Holy Land Boys School during the day, he cares for the children in residence at night. When asked “What about your community life?” he replies: “I rejoin the community on Saturday and come back to the Franciscan Boys Home on Monday after school.
But at the practical level, this new activity precludes any other form of apostolate for me. I have school in the morning, and come back to the Home at 3:30 p.m. The children are already here and have eaten. I help a little, but I really start at around 6:00 p.m. and after supper I am alone with the children. I can no longer work with the Scouts or the Young Christian Workers unless they come here or I find someone to replace me here for an hour or two from time to time. It is a heavy commitment, but a beautiful one. If one day I find someone trustworthy to help me look after the children, then I could foresee getting out more, but otherwise I must stay here.”
“Here” is at the home of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, because the property renovated by the Custody for the Franciscan Boys Home, renovations that were financed by the Franciscan Holy Land Foundation, belongs to the sisters. “Until the second Intifada we had a pilgrim’s hostel,” says Sister Marie Paule, the superior. “Since then, even though there has never been an incident involving tourists, people are afraid to come to Bethlehem. We considered various projects to bring life to the location. None could be realized until Father Amjad, who was parish priest until September, contacted us about this project.”
The request was logical; not only was the site in the basement of the sisters’ home empty, but the sisters were already active in the social apostolate of serving families with their Franciscan Center of the Holy Family upstairs, a center for helping and listening to Christian families and offering them activities.
After three months, the fruit of hope
“What is being done for the Home’s children is fabulous,” remarks Sister Marie Paule. The risk is that the children feel so good that they have trouble going home to their families for the weekend.” “The risk exists,” agrees Father Marwan, “but so far the children are happy to go home every Saturday, and happy to come back here on Mondays.”
In the courtyard on this special day, some of the boys are exhibiting a certain violence. “Of course they are violent. For some of them, familial violence has been part of their daily life since early childhood.
But there is such visible progress since three months ago. In the beginning, witnessing such violence shocked and angered me. I very quickly learned that that doesn’t help a thing. One has to be firm to separate the boys who are fighting. When that is done, I wait for them to calm down, then I speak to them together so that through dialogue they can find a way to make peace.”
“The progress in these three months is extremely encouraging. I think about a youngster who was always falling out with his friends and in trouble at school. Always alone, always failing at school. He had great difficulties in his family. Since coming here he has begun to open up to others. Then we discovered that he needs eyeglasses; he was even at risk of losing an eye. Since then, he’s a different boy. He laughs, he plays with the others and he could not have been prouder when he showed me his report card with an average of 80 out of 100. The teachers say that he has opened up unbelievably. And I admit that I am proud, too. Of course it is not just my work, but the work of the whole staff. There are nine of us altogether, including the secretary.”
“I am also thinking of another boy who came to us and whom we have been teaching in our school this year. At age eight, he didn’t know how to write his name correctly. With the help of the special educator, Maha, he began to make up his scholastic delay and he, too, has made impressive progress. Their family situation does not allow them to grow up “normally”. This Home wants to give them the chance to grow and develop.”
The boys clamor for Brother Marwan’s attention everywhere. It should be said that today is a special day in the Home. For Christmas, the Custos of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has come in person to visit them and to celebrate Mass for them in the nearby Milk Grotto. The children sing joyfully at the top of their lungs. They know the Mass. Besides Sunday Mass, they have Mass together with the Franciscan sisters on Fridays. They vie with one another to answer the questions that the Custos asks them directly during his homily, proof that spiritual accompaniment is not forgotten at the Boys Home.
After a shared buffet, the children wait for Santa Claus to arrive… they themselves gave the Custos a present, a poster they drew themselves with their photo attached. One little boy tugs on the Custos’ beard to see if stays put. It is truly an atmosphere of joy.
While the children wait, Brother Marwan distributes tender gestures and affectionate cuffs and a large dose of love, which the children return with jokes, admiration and affection. Finally Santa Claus is there… an explosion. Gifts are handed out.
The children do not rush to open them; it is as though they already have their Christmas present just in being there in the Home under the gaze of their parents, some of whom have come to Mass. Their faces reflect their children’s joy. All the Franciscan sisters are there, too, and some of the Bethlehem fraternity have also come to visit.
The party over, the boys have a little trouble going away. They are carrying bags as big as they are, in the Franciscan Holy Land Foundation (FHLF)colors. “The Foundation bears 100% of the working budget.
As long as the situation in Bethlehem engenders such social cases, the Custody must be there to help the children and their families. It counts on its donors. We have even prepared a guestroom for those who want to come visit us.” The message has been passed on. Santa has gone his way, too. God’s love will never pass.
Marie-Armelle Beaulieu
How to contribute:
Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land,
POB 20986,
Washington DC
20017-9086 USA
Website of Franciscan Holy Land Foundation here
Donation on-line here