The Sbieh Family

The house demolished in 2004, one week before they moved in

Mohammad Sbieh and his wife Gehan live in Al Khader village with their 8 children. In 2004 they were delighted to have completed their new house and were planning to move in the following week, when Israeli soldiers turned up without warning with a bulldozer. The house was completely destroyed, including the foundations. They received a bill for the demolition service.

The Red Cross provided a tent and the family erected it on the site. The soldiers came and confiscated that. The family were told that, in order to recover the tent,  they would have to pay the cost of storing it. 

Gehan's shop

The family moved in with Mohammad's brother, who let them use one floor of his already crowded house. Mohammad was a taxi driver, but he is currently waiting for heart surgery and so cannot work. His medication costs £100 per month. Gehan has opened a small shop to make ends meet. 

The Sbieh family

The girls in the family are very bright. Amany achieved 92.5% in her High School exams, the third highest mark in the district. She is currently studying accountancy at Bethlehem University. Another daughter is studying Business Administration. The family can no longer afford to pay even the modest fees for attending the University and the girls will properly not be able to continue their courses after this term.

The family cannot  afford the cost of rebuilding their house, which has remained as it was in 2004. It is families like the Sbieh family that turn to The Holy Land Trust for help in rebuilding their home. Not that this will solve all the family problems, but it will give them their dignity back. The Holy Land Trust cannot help everyone is such a situation - it is a hard choice for them to select families for the rebuilding programme.