Bethany Girls' School

Location: Bethany, Holy Land
Director: Sister Martha
Founded: 1937

How it all started
Bethany Girls' School was founded by two British ladies, Barbara Robinson and Alix Sprott, in 1937 to ensure that local girls would receive a Christian education. Barbara and Alix had recently converted to Russian Orthodoxy (being given the names of Sister Mary and Sister Martha) and had begun a community of nuns in Bethany. The School was begun by this community to help serve the needs of the local people.

The School is in Bethany, just a couple of miles outside Jerusalem. Lazarus' Tomb and the spot reputed to be the site of Mary and Martha's house are about half a mile from the School, and in the School grounds is a small cave-chapel with a large stone, dating from the fourth century, which is inscribed in Greek with the words: 'On this site the Messiah spoke with Martha and Mary about the resurrection.' There are murals in the School showing Mary and Martha with Jesus, and the raising of Lazarus.

Current activities
The School has nearly 350 pupils from kindergarten up to ninth grade (3—15 years old). Whilst most of the pupils are girls, there are a few boys in the kindergarten. Most of the children are day students, coming from Bethany village itself or from Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives village, but each year about 10—15 girls are boarders.

All of the children are from poor Arab families, and most are Muslim. The students' parents are asked to make a contribution towards their school fees, but many of them cannot afford to pay the whole amount.

The School has been affected badly by the current Intifada. Many school days have been missed over the last couple of years due to the imposed curfews, which have to be made up at the end of the academic year. The girls now play 'checkpoint', where students acting as Israeli soldiers make a Palestinian stand for an hour in the playground while they 'check' her papers, and there is a new nursery rhyme that students sing, which mimics the curfew call that they hear from the Israeli jeeps.

Over the years, through wars and civil strife, the School has managed to provide an education, and often a home, for over 2,500 children. Without this school, the probability is that many girls would go without formal education altogether.