October 9, 2002

OSHA-adjacent electrical work at the Melkite Church.

Let there be light! Electricity returns to the Melkite Church.

Marthame took a break from his duties at the school to film an historical event: the re-introduction of electricity to Zababdeh's Melkite Church. To accomplish this feat, some creative (if not safe) problem-solving was employed. The metal electrical pole was too high for a ladder, and too slick to climb. Deacon Firas and the village electrician called for a front loader, and stood in its bucket until it was high enough to lean the ladder against the pole - one steadied and the other climbed and attached the wires. It's the first, albeit humble, step towards re-opening the church.

In sporting news, the final match had to be cancelled today because of injury - one of the 11th graders landed on his head, but thankfully escaped with an egg-sized knot. Getting him to Jenin for an emergency, let alone an X-Ray, would've been nearly impossible. Marthame spent most of the afternoon with Fr. Aktham pricing an LCD projector for the school and strategizing its funding (and its travel/taxation). Who said that ministry didn't have its variety?

Marthame and Fr. Aktham compare technology notes.

Most afternoons, the school building remains open until 3:00 (1 1/2 hours after school's out) for special classes for students who failed their tawjihi exams (the rigorous comprehensive exams required for a high school diploma) and want to retake them. Recently Elizabeth has been taking advantage of the extended hours to get some grading done without carting notebooks and papers home. Today, by the time she left the school, several parents in Jenin had called asking where their kids were. The Jenin buses, which left the school around 1: 45, had not arrived by 3:00. We eventually got in touch with some friends who were able to fill us in on the details: they were made to wait at the entrance of Jenin by the Israeli army - it was beginning to look like a repeat of last year. Eventually, they were allowed to enter the city, arriving home at 4:30. Before the Jenin closures, this trip used to take maybe half an hour, 45 minutes with all its stops. Our Jenin students are facing real sacrifices and challenges even just to get to school. With news of a schoolgirl killed by Israeli gunfire in Jenin yesterday (and two female university students in the hospital for the same reason), it's enough to give one pause. Rumor has it that the military commander responsible for the Nablus curfew has been transferred to Jenin to enforce the curfew there. That doesn't bode well.