History

The foundation of a secure and caring home for children in Jerusalem began almost 100 years ago. Bertha Spafford Vester was hurrying home on Christmas Eve 1925 to go with her husband and children to sing carols in Bethlehem. On the way she encountered a Bedouin who had travelled by donkey for six hours with his sick wife and their new born baby. They had found the hospital closed to outpatients because of the Christmas feast. Bertha was greatly moved by their need and later said, “Here before me stood a rustic Madonna and babe, and, similar to Mary’s plight, there was no place for them to stay.” Bertha arranged for the mother and child to be admitted to the hospital but the mother died in the night and the father asked Bertha to care for the baby.

Her concern led her to establish a ‘baby home’ and later with funds from America, Bertha developed the site into a children’s hospital with 60 beds and a surgical wing. For many years it was the only hospital for children in the Old City of Jerusalem and after 1948 it played a vital role in serving families of all faiths from eastern Jerusalem and its surrounding towns and villages. In 1970 it was decided that the needs of local families would best be served by focusing on preventive medicine through an outpatient clinic renamed the Spafford Children’s Center (SCC). Today the Center provides women’s empowerment workshops for mothers as well as psycho-social, educational, therapeutic, and cultural programmes for children and youth in East Jerusalem and the Old City.

Bertha Spafford Vester
Bertha’s American parents Horatio and Anna Spafford were dedicated Christians from Chicago. They had faced tragedy in 1873 when they lost their four young daughters in an Atlantic shipwreck and again when an infant son died. It was a severe test of their faith but Horatio wrote the hymn “It is Well with My Soul” to express their continuing belief and trust in God. They had two more daughters, Bertha and Grace, and in 1881 they travelled with a group of Christian friends and settled in Jerusalem.

They lived sociably with their Arab and Jewish neighbours and dedicated themselves to serving humanity. Their community became known as the American Colony in Jerusalem. Later a large group of Swedish Christians joined the Americans and this required a move to larger premises. They were able to purchase an Arab Pasha’s home north of the Damascus Gate and continued their communal way of life. During World War 1, when famine and plague ravaged the city, the American Colony operated a soup kitchen for the poor of Jerusalem. They also ran, with the permission of the Turkish Governor, hospitals where they nursed the wounded from both sides of the conflict.

Adapting to Current Needs
Although needs have changed, the essential spirit of the Spafford Children’s Center remains the same. The headquarters of the SCC is still located in the original Old City ‘American Colony’ home and is run as a not for profit organisation. Several of the great-grandchildren of Horatio and Anna serve on the charity’s Board of Trustees together with dedicated Palestinian and American Board members. Their aim remains the provision of educational and social services to the local people according to their needs. With its strong heritage the Spafford Children’s Center is a forward looking and professional organisation which is recognised locally as a center of excellence.

The turbulent and sometimes violent situation in the Middle East requires the Center to be adaptable in meeting new challenges facing the families of East Jerusalem. New techniques in social work and psychology have been incorporated into the services to help children and parents cope with trauma and the restrictive occupation. The schooling of Palestinian children has also suffered due to overcrowded classrooms and a lack of funding so the Center offers successful remedial education classes to bring them up to grade level.

The doors of the Spafford Children’s Center are open to all in need, regardless of race, religion, or cultural background. At the SCC staff of different faiths work together for the benefit of needy children and their families.

Further information on the historical events which led to the formation of the Spafford Children’s Center can be obtained from the US Library of Congress or by reading ‘Our Jerusalem’ a personal account by Bertha Spafford Vester. Click here to purchase the book.