Looking back: A Swiss Caritas employee makes the start

In 1948, unimaginable suffering prevailed in Bethlehem. After the proclamation of the state of Israel, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their villages and towns. The Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe) put tens of thousands of Palestinian families in extreme hardship.

Fruitful cooperation at the local level

In 1949, Hedwig Vetter travelled to Bethlehem on behalf of Caritas Switzerland. She met helpless mothers who did not know how to take care of their sick and often starving children. Together with the Palestinian doctor Dr. Antoine Dabdoub, she opened a contact point for desperate mothers in the Old City of Bethlehem. Soon after, in 1953, they managed to rent a dozen beds for children in a local hospital. The Caritas Baby Hospital was born.

Father Ernst Schnydrig founds the association, Children’s Aid Bethlehem

The work was supported by the Swiss Father Ernst Schnydrig. Impressed by the commitment of Hedwig Vetter and Dr. Antoine Dabdoub, he wanted to secure the financing of the hospital and founded the non-profit association Kinderhilfe Bethlehem in Lucerne in 1953 together with the Swiss Caritas, the German Caritas Association and one representative each of the Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau and the Diocese of Basel.

Medical progress and jobs

In 1976, a hospital building was put into operation. Since then, the children’s clinic’s services have been continuously adapted to the changing needs of the local population and to medical progress. Tens of thousands of children have been treated since then; countless lives have been saved. Today, the Caritas Baby Hospital offers 250 secure jobs and trains medical and nursing staff in pediatrics.

Pictures: © Archive Children’s Aid Bethlehem

Looking ahead: Palestine needs pediatric surgery

Pediatric surgery is urgently needed in Palestine. The children who need a complicated operation currently have to be referred to hospitals for adults. There, however, they are often operated on too late or not at all – sometimes with life-threatening consequences. This leads to unnecessary suffering for the little ones and their families. We want to change this situation in the future!

The construction of new premises is essential for this. This will make it possible to provide even more children in the West Bank with the medical care they need.

Despite the current political situation, Children’s Aid Bethlehem is sticking to its expansion plans for the construction of a day surgery. Because we are convinced: As in the last 70 years, the Caritas Baby Hospital must now and beyond provide independent help for all sick children in the West Bank. Children are not to blame for the war – but they suffer the most from the consequences.