Far'ata

Crochet and Hebrew lessons in Far'ata, and a bit of meditation as well

As usual, we drove to our crochet and Hebrew lessons in Far'ata in the morning.

We were quite disappointed when only five pupils turned up at the beginning of the Hebrew lesson. Later on, two more women joined the class. We have become used to more than ten pupils taking part in each lesson, sometimes even fifteen. The lessons are much more stimulating and lively with a large number of participants. But the show has to go on. And this time, the lesson was a real show. We taught the body parts (again, at our pupils' request, but also according to plan). My body was exhibit no. 1.

I've already mentioned that they are all very timid and shy, so of course, we only spoke about very basic body parts, but words, such as bottom (!)or breasts, aroused much chatter and giggling. We had a lot of fun in class!

The girls also challenged me with books they had bought. They wanted to know how to pronounce certain words like "zeroa"(arm), for example. I try to avoid such difficult words, but when they ask I have to answer.

Attendance in Yehudit's class was more impressive. The handicraft was impressive as well.

I didn't attend that class, however. I was sitting outside in the sun. People from the village always pass by and everybody stops to exchange a few words. All the men speak Hebrew, at different levels. They are all very kind. And then the children arrive on their way home from school. Only a few may know a word or two in Hebrew, but we can communicate in English with some of them. Some are very curious.

It appeared we had arrived on a very special day, "family day". On behalf of the Red Crescent, the "bone doctor" had come to the village with a machine to test bone density (and maybe other things). The test costs 30 NIS while in Nablus and Qalqilya the price is 150 NIS .  And so we had the opportunity to meet the Imam, H.'s husband, a very impressive man with a white beard and a friendly face, as well as the husband of another pupil and the parents of one of the girls, a real family gathering.

On Tuesday another doctor will come to take blood tests. The fee is 3 NIS!  We asked how the villagers know about the doctors' visits (an event that takes place once in a few years). They told us that announcements are made on Friday, when all the men are in the mosque, probably more efficient than SMS.

And you probably wonder where the doctor's clinic is. Well, at the far end of the hall, where we give our lessons, a corner has been screened off by curtains behind which a table, a chair and a shabby bed have been placed. That's the clinic. However, an empathetic and skillful doctor is much more important than the interior design of the clinic. BE WELl!