Al Ahli Hospital is transforming lives,
reports Suhaila Tarazi, Director of Al Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza.
Al Ahli is changing people’s lives. From the moment they enter this hospital I believe they are changed inside. They become different people. It is God’s work.
The ministry of this hospital is the translation of God’s commandment ‘Love one another’. It is here that together we can make changes during this conflict. We share the same misery – Christians, Moslems and Jews. We all want to live in dignity.
The hospital continues to suffer from the political situation. Due to Israel’s decision to further reduce power supply to Gaza, we have had severe shortages of electricity and fuel.
This decision to reduce power supply was approved by the Supreme Court of Israel, despite warnings from Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations that the decision is a blatant approval of collective punishment of innocent civilians.
Due to the many pressures Government hospitals have minimized their work. Yet, people in pain cannot wait, so they come to our hospital.
Out of 50 beds in operation, we have 45 fully occupied, and we continue to run our in-service training and our free medical missions.
However in February I was about to call the bishop to announce the closure of the hospital because we had no electricity and we were running out of fuel. However, with UNRWA and the Red Cross putting pressure, some fuel finally came through.
These days we have about 10 hours of electricity cuts every day. They do not come at once. We never know when they come. Moreover, hardly any fuel gets in.
This places a great burden on our hospital. We entirely depend on fuel for our two generators. Right now, we cannot even afford to heat the hospital, because we need to save fuel for our operating theater.
I am also still working to get our new boiler into Gaza. Our old one threatens to collapse at any moment. If it breaks down, we will be out of hot water for sterilization.
The new boiler is ready since last November. But it is still at the provider inside Israel and needs to be transferred directly from the provider to Gaza via Karni Crossing. Yet, we are still waiting for permission from the Israeli army.
It is in this context that we deeply appreciate your support and prayers. We are very proud to raise our cross in this place, at this time. Thank you.