Shahed is 13 years old and comes from Wadi Rahal, a small village suburb of Bethlehem.

Fourth of five siblings, Shahed was born with a problem of average to severe deafness and for this she began her schooling at Effetà when she was three years old. With the help of hearing aids, she made great progress and learnt to communicate orally very well. But three years ago, she fell from a height of three meters, which caused a head injury and the cut of some nerve centers, thus becoming completely deaf.

This dramatic accident has left her with very strong consequences. But the help of the qualified and attentive people has allowed her to overcome this very critical moment and return to being serene and to engage in her study.

Today we work so that she won’t lose the great progress she had made and the language she had acquired, despite the difficulties caused by her total deafness.

A solution for her could be the cochlear implant, but it is very expensive and her family cannot support her. Also because the father is unemployed and the mother suffers from depression. The other brothers are all of school age or have just finished their studies.  Her sister Isra’ like Shahed, is also deaf.

But Shahed is strong, loves reading and despite everything writes stories and poems ...