NICK WRIGHT
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Poor

8/2/2023

20 Comments

 

'Come and live among the poor for a time, and realise what a struggle for existence really means.' (Dr. Selena Fox)

When I arrived at a Palestinian hospital to offer myself as a volunteer, the Director looked at me – this young man with long blond hair and a dangly, silver cross earring – with undisguised scepticism. Another volunteer, from Germany, offered to show me around. We sat together on a balcony with hot sun burning down and wasps buzzing around us, to give food to children with severe disabilities. I was just 22, yet I had a mysterious sense that this place, Bethany (literally 'house of the poor' (בֵּית-עַנְיָה)), a stone’s throw from Jerusalem, was where God wanted me to be. That night, I stayed on a dirty mattress on a classroom floor. The drains flooded and spewed raw sewage into the room.

As time passed by, I learned to jump back less when I pulled sheets out of a cupboard and saw and heard cockroaches fall and scatter all around my feet. I tried very hard to ignore (ugh!) the huge black spiders that slept in corners where the classroom walls joined the ceilings. I started to get used to the sporadic on-off electricity and water supplies. I began not to notice the stench of classrooms where incontinent children had laid on torn mattresses all day, and we had no soap or disinfectant to clean them. (It was the same mattresses on which we slept). I learned to mask my disappointment when we got to the end of a hard-working day, only to discover that no food had been delivered.

When air force jets flew over at low altitude, creating a loud and unnerving sonic boom, even that became part of daily life. I no longer threw myself onto the floor with my hands over my head as the doors and windows rattled. I struggled when I heard nurses tell stories of how they had been treated by military patrols. I was horrified when I met a 17 year old girl hiding in the kitchen because she had been seen talking to a man in the street who wasn’t a relative. Her own family was hunting her down to kill her – to restore their “honour”. I felt mortified when nurses stepped over and ignored a man with cerebral palsy who had fallen out of his wheelchair in the corridor, “because he’s a Syrian”.

I was sometimes shocked by well-meaning nurses’ lack of basic training, such as when they gave out random, out-of-date medication (usually donated with labels in English that they couldn’t read) because, “medicines help people”. Yet, deep down, I admired these amazing people, working so hard in such harsh conditions. Most welcomed and accepted me as a foreigner, no matter how cross-culturally naïve and painfully out of my depth I was. I always remember that remarkable volunteer who put me to shame by his amazing love and example. I will never forget the nurses who crowded into a sherut when I left, clinging to me and crying unashamedly as I fought back my own tears.
20 Comments
Liz Williams
8/2/2023 01:48:59 pm

Hey Nick. Bethany. That's where Lararus and his sisters lived in Bible times, right?

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 01:53:17 pm

Hi Liz. Yes, indeed. I've always been drawn, for some reason, to the mysterious conversations and events described in John chapter 11 in the Bible. It was only recently that it clicked that where those amazing things happened was where I was working!

Reply
Anna Johnson
8/2/2023 01:55:43 pm

Thanks Nick for sharing this story and opening our eyes to the realities of the poor. You were brave to go there at that age. Weren't you scared?

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 02:00:18 pm

Hi Anna. You're welcome. To be honest, I didn't feel brave or feel a need to be brave at the time. Perhaps (as Canadian rock band, Rush says) 'innocence gave me confidence to go up against reality.' The whole experience was moving, humbling, inspiring and harrowing in so many different ways. The big difference for me was that I was in effect a visitor. I could return home when I wanted or needed to. The Palestinian people working there didn't have that option.

Reply
Mark Rolfe
8/2/2023 02:02:54 pm

Thanks for giving us a no frills glimpse of a different side of life, Nick. It's a far cry from the safe and comfortable world I live in.

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 02:06:13 pm

Thanks Mark. It was certainly an eye-opening and heart-wrenching experience for me too. It was the first time I had been in that kind of situation and it took me quite a few years to get over it. The resilience and resourcefulness of the local people who persevere in such situations is truly remarkable.

Reply
Dave Edwards
8/2/2023 02:10:35 pm

I clicked on the 'volunteer' link, Nick. Ottmar sounds like a very unusual person. I'm not surprised you were so impacted by him. He sounds like Mother Teresa. He has challenged me to challenge myself more.

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 02:13:10 pm

Hi Dave. Yes, Ottmar had an extraordinary presence and approach. I still feel impacted by him all these years later. On Mother Teresa, this short reflective piece may resonate?

https://www.nick-wright.com/blog/something-beautiful

Reply
Enid Wright
8/2/2023 02:15:03 pm

No wonder we were worried about you while you were out there!

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 02:16:01 pm

Hi Mam. 😃😊🤐

Reply
Steve Franklin
8/2/2023 03:23:43 pm

I'm intrigued, Nick. What were you doing there? Are you a doctor or a nurse?

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 03:26:28 pm

Hi Steve. Good question. I hitch-hiked across Europe, having just completed a 12-month community development project in the UK. I presented myself simply as a volunteer, to do whatever was needed at the hospital. My work involved support and care for children with physical disabilities and informal teaching of English for Arab nurses. It was a real privilege to be there!

Reply
Steve Franklin
8/2/2023 03:28:28 pm

Now I'm even more intrigued! That's a long way to hitch-hike. Why did you leave? You must have had a strong conviction to go there.

Nick Wright
8/2/2023 03:32:17 pm

Hi Steve. That's another good question. I was sick for the whole time that I worked at the hospital, possibly as a consequence of the insanitary conditions we were working in. I lost so much weight that I became very weak and all my clothes were falling off me. It felt heart breaking to have to leave and return to the UK.

By God's amazing grace, the money I had left in my bank account (£187.56) was exactly the same amount as I needed for the air fare home.

Danielle Eastwood
8/2/2023 07:40:57 pm

Respect to you, Nick, for being so honest about your reactions. I wonder what they would write about you if they were to write a blog now!

Reply
Nick Wright
8/2/2023 07:45:35 pm

Thank you, Danielle - and what a great thought experiment. I’d be fascinated to see what they would write, if of course they could even still remember me after all these years!

I was interviewed recently on how I’d hope to be remembered. Here’s a glimpse, in case of interest: https://www.nick-wright.com/eulogy.html

Reply
Danielle Eastwood
8/2/2023 09:53:55 pm

Judging by their tears Nick, it sounds like you had quite an impact in their lives. 🙏

Nick Wright
8/2/2023 09:55:54 pm

I hope so, Danielle, in a positive way. They certainly had a big impact on mine.

Alex
8/2/2023 11:09:10 pm

Thanks Nick
Raw, humbling, challenging.
What an experience and what life long lessons!!

Reply
Nick Wright
9/2/2023 07:27:55 am

Thank you, Alex. And yes - indeed!

Reply



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    ​Nick Wright

    ​I'm a psychological coach, trainer and OD consultant. Curious to discover how can I help you? ​Get in touch!

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