Students, staff andvolunteers llooookk bbaacckk

Visit of ZZaammiirr, adeafblind man from India

50 years HLID: TThhee GGoollddeenn JJuubbiilleeee

June 2014

P.O. Box 15, Salt 19110, Jordan, tel.: +962 5 3554953Fax: +962 5 3554951, e-mail: HLID@go.com.jo

“AAllllaahh KKaarriieemm -- GGoodd PPrroovviiddeess. In Jordan there are now

thousands of Deaf people and their families to prove it.”

Deafinitely connected - God provides

In this edition:

Dear Friends,

The other day at lunch time I was struck by all the nationalities around thetable: My table had colleagues and guests from Jordan, Iraq, Holland, Poland,Turkey, Germany, Switzerland and Singapore. At the next table were Deaf,deafblind and hearing people from Iraq, Kurdistan, Jordan and Syria. In myminds’ eye I saw a growing family of boys and girls, men and women, youngand old(er?), different languages, more and less able… who come from as faras the United States and Japan with anything above, below and in-between -the family of the Holy Land Institute for Deaf and Deafblind Children(and those a little older). It is like a small world where, by God’s grace, we tryto serve the ones that come to serve, while ‘servants’ are led by the childrenthey are serving; where to rule is to serve and where we learn by teaching;where we receive by giving and we win by losing! It is like a world turnedupside down, or is it perhaps the right way up?

In this ‘Jubilee’ year we remember how theinstitute was established in 1964 by the DutchFr.Andeweg (see picture) and opened by HMthe late King Hussein. Vacated buildings ofthe old CMS mission hospital in Salt (goingback to 1934 and even before that to 1849)provided a dilapidated location and very simpleand poor accommodation. Now, in 2014 and50 years later, the institute seems well esta-blished and perhaps wise beyond its years. Itis confident and does well what it does, sharing its wide experience and giftswith many other schools and (Deaf) people throughout the Middle East region.

We are enormously grateful to the late King Hussein and to His MajestyKing Abdullah II, indeed to the Royal family for its leadership which putDeaf people on the map and for their help that continues with tremendousgoodwill and faithful support.

Hundreds of Deaf (and lately also deafblind) children and young people - whowere caught in isolation, neglect and a timid sense of inferiority, were able tostudy and learned to be confident. They were encouraged to look up and seethe opportunities. They enjoyed being cared for but also to assumeresponsibility and care for one-another. They shared in the blessing of theInstitute’s growth with a brighter future that Vocational Training offers. Eachyear yet more Deaf students enjoy being able to pass the Tawjihi (HighSchool) exams on par with their hearing peers, to pursue further and highereducation in Jordan and abroad.

„Blow the trumpets loud and long throughout the land!”Leviticus 25:9

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Letter

Letter

General news

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Above all, together we learned about a God who is Almighty and Eternal, yetwants to be a Father and Provider; who came as a Child to make everythingnew; who revealed his mighty Spirit at the Baptism site of the prophet John;who came as a Ruler who serves and a King who is able to wash the feet ofhis enemies.

We are grateful to you, our friends, for travelling with us on this journey someor all of the way. We are grateful to the children and young people, hearing aswell as Deaf and handicapped students and staff. We would like to thank all ofyou personally for all your good gifts, for everything you have done, and foryour faithful prayers and friendship. With you we want to thank God Almightyfor these fifty years of his wonderful compassion and care.

“Allah Kariem - God Provides”In Jordan as well as in the region there are now hundreds – nay thousands of

Deaf people and their families to prove it.

Warmest Jubilee greetings and every blessing. On behalf of children and staff, Brother Andrew

Christmas dinnerThe InterContinental Hotel inAmman offers us a Christmasdinner every year. Also this past December, residentmanager Mr Antoine Flouty, Ms Lucie Aslou, who is responsiblefor public relations, as well as

head chef Mr Jacques Rossel, cooksand service personnel came to theInstitute in Salt. They spoiled us withdelicious food and drinks in our dininghall. The tables were covered withwhite tablecloths and special dish-ware. The children’s eyes lit up uponseeing the festive dining hall and thefood and they feasted, full of bliss!

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Golden Jubilee

50 Years the Holy Land Institute for the DeafIn 1964, the Holy land Institute forthe Deaf (and Dumb! sic) wasfounded in the buildings of a formermission hospital in Salt. There were a few classrooms, a boardinghouse for a small number of boys andgirls, and space for teaching crafts.Besides speech training, lip reading,mathematics, and Arabic, practical skillslike repairing shoes and weaving basketswere taught.

In 1977, the school was almost shutdown. Br. Andrew, who was workingin Lebanon, was sent to Salt as the

new school director.

The Outreach program was alsoestablished in 1982 to help childrenwith disabilities throughout Jordan.

In 1980, Joshua Grossenbacher,who had been here with his familysince 1978 helped to expand the

vocational training department.

In 1982, Br. Suheil started an earmould laboratory, which later be-came our H.E.A.R. department.

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Golden Jubilee

In 1987, the teachers trainingdepartment S.T.R.I.D.E. with Mr

Samir Dababneh was added.

Since 2001 we have been the firstboarding school that takes care of

deafblind children.

In 2004, a CBR centre with classesand vocational training for disabledchildren and women was founded inJofeh, located near the Dead Sea.

In 2012, a similar centre wasopened in the village of Kreimeh in

the northern Jordan Valley.

In November 2012 we started asmall Community Disability Centrefor disabled Syrian refugees in the

Za'atari refugee camp.

This year, we are celebrating ourGolden Jubilee. What will the next

50 year hold in store for us?

Jubilee festivitiesThis year, our Institute is celebrating its Gol-den Jubilee. For that reason, we areorganising festivities throughout the year!Most importantly these festivitiesdemonstrate clearly how wonderfully God hasprovided for us over the last 50 years and toremember the miracles He has done. Thereare, indeed, plenty of opportunities to givethanks together!

School PartyOn 11 April, there was a big party for all the chil-dren and staff of the school, with visitors from thechurch in Salt, from the wider Jordan region, andeven from abroad. There were many fun games forthe children, a bouncy castle with a slide, and achildren’s performance by a clown. Our guest ofhonour for the evening was HRH Prince Mired binRaad (picture down, 3rd f.r.), a cousin of the kingand the President of the Higher Council for theAffairs of Persons with Disabilities. At the sametime we welcomed Salt’s mayor Khashman (4th

f.r.), various prominent members of society, amongthem ex-member of parliamentMsharbash (3rd f.l.), journalist Waked(2nd f.r.), dignitaries of the church,among them Archdeacon Luay (1st

f.r.), foreign guests as well as Deaf andhearing staff of the Institute. It waswonderful to bring all these peopletogether in one room as a demon-stration how well-integrated the schooland the Deaf community are in churchand society and the bridges they areable to build between each other.

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Golden Jubilee

(L t r ) Br Andrew delegate from Governate ex minister president

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Alumni PartyWe invited all former students of theHLID, their families as well as all theDeaf people of Jordan to come to Salton 25 April. Again, we had games, aperformance and opportunities for theguests to exchange memories andnews. Thanks to the voluntary effortsof the Swiss chef Gerhard Tschanzand the kitchen staff thousands ofturkey hamburgers were prepared andeaten. The meat was donated by theMennonite Central Committee USA(MCC). The guests of honour wereHRH Prince Raad bin Zeid with hiswife HRH Princess Majida Raad(originally from Sweden). Prince Raadis the uncle of our king, the father ofPrince Mired (page 6) and hascommitted himself to helping peoplewith disabilities. He mingled with theguests, participated in a game andenjoyed a “turkey” hamburger. Thecosts for the two parties were borne bythe municipality of Salt.

Mime artistThe well-known Spanish mime artist Carlos Martinez came to Jordan on thefirst weekend of May. He held two shows in Amman which were attended byhearing, Deaf and disabled children and adults. He also conducted a mimeworkshop for our older Deaf students on Saturday and performed thatevening at a charity dinner in the InterContinental Hotel in Amman to raisemoney for the HLID. Costs were covered by a Jordanian friend, and threeflight tickets for Carlos and his team were donated by Royal JordanianAirlines.

Prince Raad and Princess Majidawith some Deaf alumni

Group picture of male alumni

Golden Jubilee

From the photo album: StudentsAtheer (left) has been at the school since 1995. Her sister, Najah, hasbeen here since 1997. Both sisters are currently in their final schoolyear and look back on almost twenty years in the Institute.

Najah: When we first arrivedat the school, everything was alot smaller. Many of the buil-dings you see on the campustoday were not here. The floorused to be loosely cobbled –there was no tarmac.Atheer: Exactly, the classroombuilding was half its currentheight, and the vocationaltraining for the girls was givenelsewhere.Najah: The animal run waslarger, with chickens, rabbits,turkeys and peafowl. Manythings have stayed the samethough: the food is more orless the same as it has alwaysbeen. Many of the staff havebeen here since we arrived:Ahlam, Brother Andrew,Rehab, Joshua and Dineke.Atheer: I remember withpleasure the time I have spenthere as a child. We had moretime to play and I miss the

friends from the past.Najah: I prefer life as it isnow. There are many newthings, many improvementsand many new friends. Inparticular the teaching isbetter and on a higher level.Atheer: Yes, that is true, theteaching has improved.Najah: We will soon be fini-shed with school. I will alwaysremember my time here; it isthe place where we grew up.

School, children and students

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School, children and students

Mohammed came to the school in 2000 when hewas 4 years old and is now in class 8.

“I love sports. Already as a small boy I always en-joyed playing football. Since Iam here there have beenmany guests and volunteersfrom several countries. I findit always interesting to talkwith them about our differentcultures. Joshua, the head ofvocational training, is heresince I was a little boy. Now Iam working myself in thevocational training / car me-

chanics section. For me it is very important that I canlearn many things. The Sign language has changedand has developed further. My class has also changedmuch and there is only one boy with whom I havebeen together since Kindergarten.”

Mourad comes from Jerash. There he was just alittle boy in one of the classes of our Outreachservices. In 1998 he came to the school in Saltat age six, and he is now in class 12, the lastyear of school.“When I came to the school in Salt as a little boyeverything looked very different. The boarding housewas smaller and theguesthouses and the newdeafblind building did not yetexist. The home of Joshuaand Dineke is now above thevocational training for thegirls. I cannot reallyremember anymore what

daily life was like at the time. When you are little,you do not really understand what is happeningaround you. But I am grateful for all the improve-ments in the school. The teaching in the school and inthe vocational training is better. Soon I will be leavingschool. I wonder what it will be like to live all thetime at home, I have grown up mainly in Salt.Hopefully I can start to study after the summer.”

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Staff & volunteers

From the photo album: Staff/VolunteersFrom the very beginning Samir Dababneh was ateacher here. In between he left the Institute for anumber of years but he has been back on board formany years now as head of the teacher trainingdepartment S.T.R.I.D.E.“I remember very well, when I was being trained as ateacher for the deaf in Lebanon – even before the Deafschool was established, people would ask me if I could notfind anything better to do. That shows how little regard Deafpeople had then. Before the HLID was established, there wasno education for Deaf people at all. We started with a few

buildings, a fence around the land and a few Deaf children. At that time theWest Bank was still part of Jordan and we had many childrenfrom that region. At the time we regularly taught outdoorswhich was often difficult: when we were teaching the Deafchildren, sometimes half the neighbourhood would bestanding at the fence and watch. We felt like we were beingput on show.

For a long time we were not allowed to use Sign languagebecause it was not considered a language and only spokenArabic was allowed. However, when the school principal wenthome in the afternoon, we would sign with the children. Theywere the ones who taught us Sign language.”

Yvonne Bergwerf, who is from Holland, is the secretaryof the Friendship Association in the Netherlands aswell as the secretary of the entire international groupof supporting associations. She has been to Salt on nu-merous occasions to work as a short-term volunteer.

“My first visit to Salt was in May 1967, only three years afterits opening. As a Dutch woman, Iexperienced culture shock. I did not knowanything about the culture, history,geography or the children in the Middle

East, and I had not mastered either Arabic or Sign language.The school building then was small but nice with an openveranda, but now there are several large buildings which arenice and practical. The food looked exotic to me then, butnow I always enjoy it. The children seemed wild andunkempt to me, but now I see them with different eyes, andthey are just wonderful. I love the children. When I travelthese days to Salt, it feels like I’m coming home.”

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Our Egyptian teacher of English,interpreter and friend Jameel hasworked many years with us. Towardsthe end of his time in Salt his wifeZeina joined us as well. Last autumnthey became parents of little Sawsan.The family has now returned to Egyptas they like to bring up their daughterwith the rest of the family. On behalfof the school community we would liketo thank them very much for theirservice and their friendship! We wishthem God's blessings for the future.

Staff & volunteers

Hassan grew up with us as a Deaf student and has worked for the last 10years here as a housefather andcarpenter. Last year he got married andhe now lives in Jerash, where he founda job in a centre for handicappedyouth. We miss him because of hisvaluable work and tireless assistance,but it is wonderful that he can nowhelp other people with disabilities.

Jörg and Suzanne Fischer were both volunteers here at the HLID wherethey got to know each other. They later got married and, since late April, havebeen living and working again at the Institute – they even brought their threechildren along! Jörg was seconded by the German Development Aid as aconsultant for Vocational Training. Currently he studies Arabic. When needed,he also helps out in the school and as a “hobby” he shares his skills andknowledge as a civil engineer.

Rehab (left), the school's principal hasrecently been struggling with healthproblems. In order to lighten her load,our English teacher Iman (right) isnow giving her more support. Salemworked as a receptionist and assistantin the office from 2010 onwards. Helearned many things and has nowfound a job with a bank. The new staffmembers in the administration areMaram and Ferras.

Farewell and reunion

Many visitorsDavid (USA) visited our school in November and de-cided right away to help for two weeks in the vocatio-nal training department. In January William (USA), avolunteer from last year, visited us. Thereafter Simonand Sarah Utiger (Switzerland) came for two weeksand helped out everywhere in the school. In February

Maaike (Holland, picture left) helped in the Jofeh Centre. She mostly workedwith the Deaf children. Anna Stasia (Switzerland) came as a short termvolunteer for the month of March to help with the children and the laundry.Paul-Raphael (England) and Ria (Holland) came to helpwith the many preparations for the Jubilee celebrations. Inthe spring René brought a photographer, Guido, and a net-work specialist, Christiaan (both from Holland), along. WhileRené and Christiaan were repairing our network, Guido wastaking beautiful pictures for the Jubilee Photo Book which isbeing prepared by Brother Andrew, Guido and René. LaterRené's wife Tanja and their children Thomas and Joanne(bottom left picture) travelled to Salt and played happily with

the Deaf children. Guido's wifeÖzlem also came to Salt and both ofthem (picture right) stayed with usfor a few more weeks. At the same time the familiesof volunteers Amrei, Simon, Nathalie, Patrick andFinn visited us, followed in May by the Germanformer volunteer Salome. At the end of the schoolyear Timothy from Singapore also came to help.

PaulinenpflegeSeven Deaf young women of thevocational training department andtwo hearing young women of theSign language training seminar ofthe Paulinenpflege in Germanystayed with us for an exchangeprogramme from 24 April until 4May. They started the week by participating inthe alumni party and then, together with the older students of HLID, they visitedJordan's sights Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba. They worked for five days in variousdepartments of the school and on the last day made a trip to Kreimeh, Jofeh andthe Dead Sea. The Deaf young ladies could quickly communicate with ourchildren in spite of the considerable differences between their Sign languages.Several trainees made friends with our students, which will surely last.

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General news

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Allah Kariem International-MeetingDuring the Jubilee festivities themeeting of Allah KariemInternational – 2014 took place. Seven staff of the HLID and 15 repre-sentatives of the supporting associ-ations “Friends of the HLID” from Ger-many, Switzerland, Holland, Englandand Japan participated. Jonathan andTim (UK), Ria (NL), Sarah andHikaru (JP) and Ruth (CH) werepresent for the first time and werewelcomed. In Japan an official friendship association will be established. Therewere also additional travel groups from Holland, Switzerland and Japan. Afterthe assembly on Saturday, a Palm Sunday church service was conducted byArchdeacon Luay Haddad, to which the Salt parish was invited. In the eve-

ning there was a Thanksgiving servicefor staff, students and visitors. OnMonday an excursion was made to theCBR centres in Jofeh and Kreimeh aswell as to the baptism site on theJordan River, where John the Baptistbaptised Jesus the Christ. The trip wassponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.The main agenda of the program forthat weekend was, of course, theinteraction with the students.

General news

Outreach

Brenz Band helping Syrian refugeesThe Brenz Band from Germany has musicians and members with andwithout disabilities. After tours to Poland and China, the Band wanted togive concerts at the HLID and in Palestine and Israel. Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelledbut the members of the Band decidedupon something very nice: the proceedsof a benefit concert and the money theywould have spent for this trip wasdonated to our Outreach, respectivelythe NETWORK-Team for their work withhandicapped Syrian refugees in theZa'atari refugee camp. Horst andGertraude Tögel, the Band leaders,travelled to Jordan to visit the refugeecamp and to present the check.

Our deafblind children (with names) with the Deaf students who take care ofthem as well as with Zamir, Parag and Brother Andrew in the background

A Visit from IndiaLast November Zamir, a deafblindman from India, visited us for sixdays. He was born deaf and becameblind when he was nine years old.

He is now active in the organisationSense International (India). Zamir’sinterpreter Parag accompanied him andinterpreted from Indian Sign languageinto spoken English.

Zamir and Parag held two seminars, one for the Deaf students who assist in thedeafblind unit, and the other for the teachers in the deafblind unit. In theseminar, Zamir recounted his own experience and gave tips about working with

the deafblind. He also showed them howhe could use his laptop independently byusing an electronic Braille ruler linked tohis laptop or mobile phone. He alsovisited the outreach centres at Jofeh andKreimeh, and spent the rest of his timein our kindergarten and deafblind unit,observing and sharing in a typicaldeafblind school day.

Zamir’s visit was exciting and inspiring,equally for him as well as for our Deafstudents. It was impressive to see thethings that deafblind people can achieve.

Zamir shows Hanady, a deafblindresident of the HLID, how he works

on a laptop using a braille ruler.

Zamir

Hamam

Murhaf

Issa

Hanady

MohammedRahmeh

Kawthar

Mohammed

HadielMariam

Hazem

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Deafblind Unit

Training in IraqIn April Samir, Head of the S.T.R.I.D.E.Department, completed two advancedtraining courses for hearing teachers ofthe Deaf in Baghdad and Kurdistan. Inboth places, an additional awarenesscourse for parents was arranged. TheChristoffel Blind Mission (CBM,Germany) picked up most of the cost.

On his journey, Samir met Aftaw (left picture), a 28 year-old deafblind lady who works in a Deaf school in Kurdistan.She has a small workshop where she creates necklaces anddecorates items with beads. Thanks to a teacher shelearned tactile Sign language and Braille. Unfortunately, herstory is not the norm in Iraq and many deafblind childrenhave yet to be reached and helped. The encounter illustra-ted just once more how necessary deafblind work is in theMiddle East.

Iraqi GuestsIn spring, seven Deaf teaching assistants and two hearing teachersfrom Kurdistan and Iraq came for a five-week training course.Ghadeer, an ex-student who is now a teacher at our CBR-centre in Kreimeh,supplemented the group. Samir and Ahlam bore the main administrative,organizational and teaching responsibility, supported by our Deaf teachersFadileh, Nisrin, and Rowan as well asour hearing teachers Rehab, Iman D,Iman A, Maleke (school) andKhadijeh (head of the deafblind unit).In Iraq, even today, Deaf people cannotstudy; for this reason, the participantswere insufficiently trained. Deafteachers are urgently needed in Iraq asthey have an invaluable bond with Deafstudents.

Deaf students in Iraq have poor prospects; they leave school without goodqualifications and most of them end up working as menial workers or manuallabourers. If Deaf people go back to Iraq as better-trained teachers, they caninspire their Deaf students to dream: “If she has made it as a teacher,perhaps I can become a graphic designer…!”

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Teacher for the Deaf in Kurdistan

S.T.R.I.D.E.(Salt Training and Resource Institute for Disability, Etc.)

Arabic snowstormIn December, it suddenly began to snow and everyone enjoyed thewonderful sight. It snowed throughout the night and did not stop for twowhole days. Soon the school yard was covered with 30 cm of snow. The children played in the snowand built a big snowman. How-ever, the snow had made most ofthe roads impassable so our tea-chers and colleagues could notcome in for work. The few wor-kers who live in the Institute thusfound themselves left on theirown, entrusted with the task ofsupervising more than a hundredchildren. On their own? No, be-cause the older students – bothboys and girls – were as usualready to help. Many trees in thegrounds fell down or were da-maged because of the heavy snowfall and a large quantity of wood was amassedon the playground, thanks to the long hours and hard work of the boys andvolunteers. It would take several more weeks before all the wood was choppedup and disposed of. Though we were almost cut off from the outside world, aspecial atmosphere reigned, bringing us closer together as members of ourschool family. God always brings good out of everything, even life’s crises.

School, children and students

Contact in the United Kindom:FFrriieennddss ooff tthhee HHoollyy LLaanndd IInnssttiittuutteeffoorr tthhee DDeeaaff (Formerly Allah Kariem-UK)

Chairman/sponsorships: Mr Jonathan Allen, May Cottage,Church Lane, Upper Dean, Huntingdon,Cambridgeshire, PE28 0NB, UKtel.: +44 (0)1234 708 008 e-mail: jonathangallen@me.comBank Account: No 00092614 Friends ofthe Holy Land Institute for the DeafDeposit Account, CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Av., Kings Hill, West Malling,Kent ME19 4JQ, Sort Code 405240

Please visit our website: www.holyland-deaf.org/uk

Contact and donation collectorin the USA:

American Friends of the EpiscopalDiocese of Jerusalem25 Old King's Highway No., Suite 13,Darien, CT 06820, USA www.afedj.org Contact person: Anne Lynn tel.: 203-655-3575e-mail: aklynn@afedj.orgDonations: Please mail a check to theaddress above, donate online or contactAnne Lynn.