Dear Friends,

Because of the closures and travel restrictions it has been impossible for many patients to reach Spafford Children’s Center for treatment and vaccinations. Dr. Dajani and Dr. Sami have established an outreach program to an area in the West Bank . The focus is on the Ramalla area where the patient number from that area has dropped from 1,840 in 2000 to just 59 in 2004. Many of the people who used to visit SCC have been phoning us through the years and asking if we could bring our services to the West Bank.

The persistent demand of our former patients and the opportunity to cooperate with a clinic in the Ramallah area has stimulated us to do a pilot medical outreach program. The number of patients who attended the first month, May 2005, proved that there is a clear need for our pediatric services. After we establish this project we intend to do the same program in an adjacent area to the Northwest of Ramallah which is also very isolated due to road closures and checkpoints.

We are working with the Caritas Clinic in Taybeh and their clinic building has been newly enlarged providing us with ample space. We do need, however, to provide furnishings and equipment. One of the patients visiting for the first time said, “This seems like paradise”. The tranquility was such a relief and a joy to her.

Once or twice weekly a team from SCC consisting of a pediatrician, staff nurse and paramedic will go to the clinic to provide pediatric examinations and treatment, vaccinations that are lacking in the West Bank, hearing and development screening tests for babies and children as well as instruction for the mothers in child care and nutrition.

We plan to furnish the rooms and acquire the equipment in the first month. We will also distribute flyers making the people in the villages aware of the services of the pediatric clinic.

This is an ambitious step for Dr. Dajani and Dr. Sami, but it is a very needed answer to the woefully absent health care in the Ramallah area.

We need your support – both financially and with prayers. The staff needs uplifting to meet this new challenge and I know that you will be there for them. Won’t you please add this new project to your prayer list? If you choose to make a contribution, please indicate whether you would like your donation to go to this special clinic or to the general care of all of the Center’s patients. Either way, you will be a blessing to staff and patients alike.

I'll share more news and photos when I return from Jerusalem in November.

Sincerely,

Georgette Lind