Current Appeal: Christmas 2011

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In just a few weeks’ time, we’ll celebrate the birth of Christ. How amazing to think he came to our world as a helpless baby, dependent on his mother’s unconditional love.

Six years ago, another little boy was born in the Holy Land.

But today Ashaz looks up at his mother Sahirah and cries.

Every mother wants to protect her child. Sahirah is no different. But she cannot do it alone.

Sahirah was elated when she gave birth to her longed-for baby boy, but almost overnight her life became a nightmare. Ashaz had cerebral palsy, and his father and grandparents were furious. To them, Sahirah had brought shame on the family.

‘You are damaged,’ Sahirah’s husband told her. ‘My son is not perfect and you are to blame. I will never forgive you.’

Although she was not physically in danger, her husband’s emotional abuse was almost too much for Sahirah to bear. He brought a new wife into the family home, hoping that she would produce ‘perfect’ children, and Sahirah and Ashaz were relegated to a miserable, undignified and forgotten existence in one corner of the house.

Ashaz, now six years old, cries because he thinks this is all his fault.

Speaking to one of our partners in Jerusalem recently, I was shocked to discover that Sahirah’s situation is common. Astoundingly, two weeks later we heard that the US government, angered by the Palestinian UN membership bid, had unilaterally withdrawn funding from some of our partners who are battling with these issues. (Read more about that here.)

Disadvantaged people like Sahirah and her son will be the ones to suffer.

In the land where a mother cradled the most special baby more than 2,000 years ago, mothers and children are right now being mistreated and marginalised.

We want to help them – but we urgently need your donations.

Our partners fight to tackle the barriers of poverty and harmful attitudes. Inspiring Christian organisations like the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation and the Princess Basma Centre in Jerusalem not only provide top-quality medical and rehabilitation services but also work tirelessly to dispel the myths about disability. Mothers are empowered as equal partners in their child’s rehabilitation, receiving accommodation, education, self-confidence and knowledge of their rights.

Sahirah and many women like her urgently need this support, but with the devastating funding cuts, our partners face having to turn them away.

It costs around £75 a day to support a mother and child in the Princess Basma Centre. I realise this is a lot to ask you to give while you are planning your own family’s Christmas, so would you send a special gift of £25 – or whatever you can afford – towards our work today?

In the land of Christ’s birth, our partners face enormous challenges – and now that they have lost a large source of funding, they are in even greater need of our help. They are relying on us this Christmas – and we are dependent on you. Thank you for your support.

Tricia Pruden
Head of Communications and Fundraising

P.S. We have just found out that the funding situation affects even more of our partners than we first thought. Please give whatever you can to help us stand beside them at this uncertain time.

It costs around £75 a day to support a mother and child in the Princess Basma Centre. Please send a special gift of £25 – or whatever you can afford – towards our work today - every gift WILL make a difference...

Donate online

Read about previous
appeals' impact...