Bethany School for Girls
The Bethany school for Girls has been around for close to 90 years. It was established in 1937 educating both Christian and Muslim children together, and is one of the best private schools for girls in Palestine. It is a unique educational institution that contributes towards improving relations among the people in the Holy Land. The town of Bethany is located 3 km from Jerusalem, situated just outside of the wall separating Israel and West Bank.
In 1932, the Bethany Women's Community of the Resurrection of Christ was created and funded by the Scottish women Barbara-Stella Robinson and Alix Sprot. Being certified nurses, they opened a small hospital on the abandoned territory of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, in which they received sick children. In 1937, the nuns opened a boarding school for Arab Christian girls. Later the school became a women's high school. In addition to the school curriculum, the program offered courses in the Sacred History of the Old and New Testaments, and the history of the Church. The seniors study Russian.
In the early 1980s, the school was on the verge of closing due to a shortage of Christian female students and the inability to conduct normal educational work in the current political climate. It was decided to transfer the school to private management and register it as general education. Presently, over 400 girls are studying at the school, over 100 are on the waiting list. The Law of God is taught to Christians and the Koran to Muslims. Differences of religion did not prevent the girls from making friends and benefiting from one another.
Mother Maria (Wall) conducts her obedience at Russian Convent of St. Mary Magdalene and the Community of the Resurrection of Christ in Bethany, and serves as the Administrator of the Orthodox Bethany School for girls. She is a mathematician by education who stands up to Palestinian authorities and fruitfully negotiates on behalf of the school. Though the school is one of the best in the area with a waiting list to get in, they nevertheless struggle financially and we are helping the school's general education program to run.
Now the school is a small island of hope in the midst of the war storming the Middle East. The girls, many of whom have relatives in the Gaza Strip, are still studying, and teachers are helping them not only to survive this ongoing conflict, but simply continue to be children.
Importance of working school in
a war zone
“It is our responsibility to protect them as much as possible and keep them in safe surroundings, and give them the opportunity to talk about what they feel and experience. And an open school is a sign of stability that is absolutely necessary for these children.”
Mother Maria has been a guest speaker at all of our online fundraisers: