I have just returned from 16 days in Jordan with Highway Projects, a Christian organisation that organises short-term mission work amongst disadvantaged people across the religious divide, especially within the Arab community. The projects are based in Jordan and Israel / Palestine but next year the hope is to extend the help to include both Egypt and Lebanon.
Our project was to help to renovate the Old English Hospital in Salt, a town of 50-60,000 people around 15 miles from Jordan's capital Amman. The hospital is to become a residential centre of excellence in the Middle East for the training of sign language to teachers, parents and families of deaf children. It is a long term project that Highway Projects has been involved with for the last seven years but the building is, finally, nearing completion.
 
We scraped old paint off ceilings and walls and sealed and repainted them. One of our team glazed and painted several doors while another built a boiler room and some of us became quite proficient at pointing the beautiful, yellow sandstone. Because the town is built on seven hills, the site is surrounded by steep steps meaning that all deliveries including sand, blocks and cement have to be hauled in by hand. We were able to provide essential extra pairs of hands in a chain to bring in the materials, much to the amusements of the locals.
We were accommodated at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf (HLID), which is a remarkable establishment, founded in 1964 by Brother Andweg, a Dutch Anglican priest. It is run largely on charitable giving and relies heavily on volunteers many of whom are supported by the Church Mission Society. HLID encompasses a school for deaf children (120 in residence) offering vocational training in car mechanics, weaving, ceramics, carpentry, metalwork and ear mould manufacture
There is a small chapel which is filled to capacity at every service and prayer meeting (services are conducted in sign language, Arabic and English). There is also an audiology unit where both children and adults are assessed and given help with their disability paying much less than they would have to pay elsewhere. There are boarding houses for the children, a large dining room and an administration building.
We worked from 8 am to 5 pm, starting and ending with a very pleasant 20 min walk through the town, up and down 400 steps each way. As the only Europeans we were very noticeable but made very welcome with frequent shouts of "Welcome to Jordan." After supper (we are going to write a pamphlet of 1001 things to do with pita bread) we spent time with the children. I had thought that this would be a bit arduous after a hard day of work but, on the contrary, I found this part hugely rewarding and most enjoyable. The children, with ages ranging from three to 22, were extremely keen to communicate and to teach us sign language. The school is a wonderfully happy place, where the staff are incredibly dedicated and loving to all in their care. It was a truly humbling experience and a great privilege to have been part of this work.
There is a poster in the audiology department that reads:
"A man never stands as tall as when he stoops to help a child",
a great maxim to live by.
Kathleen Aitken
(Daughter of Crosbie and Margaret Bryson)
If anyone would like further information about Highway Projects, please look at the web site www.Highway-projects.org. Please pray for this exceptional organisation and the people that it helps. If you would like to make a donation, please speak to Margaret Bryson.
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