Effeta Paolo VI July 1st, 2024

Dear and beloved friends, benefactors, and supporters of the Effeta Paolo VI Institute,

After reopening with enthusiasm in mid-August, we organized various educational activities focused on creativity and the imagination of our students, aiming to make their learning more engaging.

Unfortunately, unexpectedly, we had to close the school after just one month due to the ongoing conflict. Roads have been closed across all areas of Palestine. What can we do? Online education is impossible for the hearing-impaired, who need to see and touch to facilitate understanding.

After a few weeks, we courageously reopened the school, but due to the war and road closures, very few were able to return. Students come from various distant countries and villages around Bethlehem and cannot cross the surrounding walls.

It's terrible! Suffering adds to pain! The entire first semester has gone to waste. The closures leave us sighing!

With courage, we met with the families of the students, and together we decided to resume, relying on the Good God, Father of Mercy and Compassion, making slight adjustments to educational disciplines to make up for lost time and continue the education of the hearing-impaired.

After the Christmas holidays, it was wonderful to see all the students return to school with one cry: "We want school! We want to come to school! We want life!"

The courage and enthusiasm of the students have infused us with courage and goodwill, as if it were their first day of school, forgetting all fatigue and discomfort.

Due to the conflict, students must navigate impossible roads and undergo increased checks to reach the school. We found the students almost all changed, different. Perhaps the suffering they endured has made them grow. They are more aware and committed; they are eager, at any cost, to prepare for their future, to manage their lives independently, despite the significant limitations they face.

We couldn't carry out many external artistic activities. Only for grades IV, V, VI of primary school did we organize some culinary activities within the Institute and the art of manual work, drawing, collage with beads, stones, and partly mosaic for the middle classes, to help them discover their abilities, the result of their manual work.

We cannot forget the Lord Jesus' preference for the weak and defenseless. In this inhumane time, Providence has always been manifest through people with the heart of the "Good Samaritan," who have supported us with concrete gestures of financial aid, offering that drop that has fueled the necessary resources to meet the needs of the moment, giving us the courage to continue to serve, help, and accompany these little hearing-impaired ones with more serenity.

Despite the ongoing negative situation, we know that Jesus, with his resurrection, has conquered death, giving us a new life. We must not lose hope and Christian joy because "nothing is impossible with Him"!

Dear friends and supporters, the memory and gratitude remain alive in prayer, together with the children, for each of your good intentions.

On behalf of the Superior, Sister Carmela Dal Barco, and all the sisters of the Effeta Community, I express gratitude and warm regards.

Fraternally,

Sister Ginetta Aldegheri