American-supported foundation rebuilds Christian housing in Holy Land

Published: 2007-07-24

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- For 32 years, Afifeh Toshieh has cooked meals for her family of six in a kitchen with no oven or working sink and an asbestos ceiling. The lack of proper ventilation leaves the room with an overpowering stench of mold and mildew. It is here that she washes clothes by hand and where the family takes showers. "God knows how we suffered. In the winter the rain leaks in. In summer it is as hot as an oven," said her youngest daughter, Claude, 21, who studies chemistry at Bethlehem University. "I never invited friends over because I was embarrassed for them to see how we lived." Afifeh said she hasn't wanted to leave her home in the center of the Old City of Bethlehem because of its proximity to the Church of the Nativity, where she has gone to pray every day of her married life. This summer their two-room home is being renovated and the kitchen upgraded to livable conditions with the aid of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation, which is supported by American Christians dedicated to helping Palestinian Christians. Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem serves as a member of its advisory board.

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