Celebrate Life!

at Ma'an lil-Hayat/L'Arche Bethlehem
News from Ma'an lil-Hayat
Core member Shukri participates in Holy Thursday celebrations in Bethlehem

Some pictures of the participation of Shukri Murra, our core member at Ma’an lil-Hayat, in the…

Ramadan Iftars

On Monday, March 25, 2024, L’Arche Bethlehem participated alongside the orphans of Dar Salah and Al-Obeidiya…

Ma’an lil-Hayat core members prepare presents for Mother’s Day

On the occasion of Mother’s Day which falls on the first day of Spring in Palestine,…

Ma’an lil-Hayat receives students from Jerusalem School Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM – On March 13, 2024, Ma’an lil-Hayat community received 47 students from Jerusalem School Bethlehem…

Ma’an lil-Hayat community welcomes Benedictine Monks and friends from Dormition Abbey

BETHLEHEM – On Tuesday, January 23, Fr. Nikodemus Schnabel alongside a group of Benedictine Monks and…

Nursing students from Bethlehem University animate activities at Ma’an lil-Hayat

BETHLEHEM – On Tuesday, January 23, Ma’an lil-Hayat welcomed a group of nursing students from Bethlehem…

background
Ma'an lil-Hayat in Dar Salah
In response to our growing awareness of the needs of people with disabilities in the area and the ever-increasing number of names of people waiting to be welcomed into our community, we opened a second day program in September 2016 in a village on the outskirts of Bethlehem. Ma’an lil-Hayat in Dar Salah was founded by four long-term core members (people with intellectual disabilities) and two assistants from Ma’an Bethlehem. Today, there are ten core members and three assistants, along with numerous volunteers and student interns who form this satellite community. The beginnings of this project are quite remarkable. When the village council of Dar Salah learned that we were hoping to open a center in the village, the head of the council offered us a recently renovated house to use rent-free for the following few years.

Ma’an lil-Hayat (Together for Life) is the first and only community project in Palestine that brings together people with and without intellectual disabilities to engage in creative textile-arts activities and share daily life together. Founded in August 2009, in Bethlehem, Ma’an lil-Hayat is a member of the International Federation of L’Arche Communities, created in 1964 in France (see www.larche.org). Members of Ma’an lil-Hayat use the wool of Bethlehem sheep to make felted wool ornaments, nativity scenes, and other unique gift items. The raw wool is purchased from women shepherds in a village on the outskirts of Bethlehem.

Ma’an lil-Hayat seeks to affirm and empower people with intellectual disabilities in their claim to adulthood. Meaningful, challenging activities encourage a sense of personal responsibility and genuine participation in the building of civil society.

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