This morning we visited the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf
in Salt, Jordan. This is one of the
institutional ministries of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem serving students
in Jordan and the Middle East. The
school serves children from K through 12th grade, preparing those
who qualify for university entrance examinations and offering vocational
training for those who cannot go on to university. They also have a program for children who are
both deaf and blind and offer audiology services and hearing aids to families
and children. We toured the entire
school, which is a beautiful, bright, colorful facility. The teachers are 80% Muslim as are the
children, even though this is a Christian school. Religion is taught to all children according
to their own faith tradition. It was
great fun visiting the classrooms and interacting with the children. They are taught Jordanian Sign Language but
they also learn English and apparently, once they learn Jordanian Sign language
they can also understand English sign language.
It was noticeable as we walked through the school visiting the
classrooms how very quiet the place was.
Most schools are noisy, especially lower grades with small children
laughing and talking and making noise.
These children were just as playful but it was like watching a silent
movie. We were extremely impressed with
their facilities for deaf blind children and we got to watch them working with
several of those children. They teach
them sign language in their palms and they have lots of ways to help them learn
to communicate and navigate the world using touch. The teachers there were amazing. It’s a boarding school for all ages with the
children going home one weekend a month and then holidays and summers. I really enjoyed the interfaith cooperation
that was so very much in evidence there. Muslims and Christians working
together in a Christian school serving a heavily Muslim population united in
their dedication to helping those kids become the best they can be.
Last night we had a conversation with an Anglican priest who is one of the canons of the diocese. He currently serves a parish in Jordan, although he has also served in both Israel and the West Bank. He was pretty blunt about the challenges of ministering to Christian congregations in the midst of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Now, in Jordan, his biggest challenge is working with the flood of Iraqi and Syrian refugees who come to his parish with serious needs but then ultimately move on when they get visas to emigrate to the US, Canada or Australia. Vis-à-vis the Israeli/Palestinian conflict I was once again struck by how stratified life over here is. The Christian and Muslim Palestinians and Arabs rarely, if ever, have any contact with Israeli Jews. The kind of Christian Jewish dialogue and relationships that are common in the US are virtually unheard of here, at least among the folks we’ve met so far. This society is very, very segregated in terms of schools, housing, transportation, neighborhoods. Christian Jewish dialogue of the kind I have done for so long seems not to happen here.
Our trip back across the Allenby Bridge to the West Bank was
blessedly uncomplicated. It only took us an hour and 20 minutes to go through
all the red tape. One of our group has
an insulin pump which is surgically attached to her stomach to deliver insulin
all day, and that got the Israeli security folks concerned so she had to be
pulled aside in a separate room and strip down so they could examine the
medical device before letting her through.
Other than that, we got through with no hassle. I was struck by how clearly the dread of what
the process might be affected our Israeli Arab guide. He has done this thousands of times so he
knows all that can happen and how difficult the Israeli IDF can make it, and he
was clearly very relieved when we sailed through no problem. When we passed through one checkpoint in the
West Bank they did pull our van over and the IDF soldier got on board but we
all had our passports in hand and when she saw a van full of white Americans
from the theological college she let us pass.
Pics today are some shots of the teachers and students at the
school.
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