La Crèche ("The cradle")

St. Vincent Guest House was built with the main aim of providing financial support for the Crèche, the orphanage managed by the Daughters of the Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
The orphanage, which has a long history in Bethlehem, has welcome the orphans since its foundation in the late 19th century. Since the middle '80s, it has expanded its mission to include social problems in the Palestinian Authority Area. At the same time the Crèche has consistently upgraded the quality of the social and educational help furnished. It has made some important farsighted choices, while at all times remaining focussed on a constant improvement of the care of the children.
All interior spaces have been rearranged to create open, comfortable and attractive rooms for the children and functional spaces for the staff. The latter is ever more qualified. Special care has been taken to develop all the requisite skills and provide good working conditions.
It's important for the children to experience constancy and continuity in their relations with care takers, in order to develop a sense of stability.
Similarly, it is important for the development of everyday life skills for the children to meet other people. Thus the management has created a kindergarten for outside children. During the day all the pupils stay together and play together, getting to know each other through shared activities and shared experiences.
At the Crèche, social workers are also responsible for relations with the children's families, especially for a child's insertion into its family and other potentially problematic situations.
Furthermore, many mutually enriching relationships have been established with the members of the faculties of psychology and education at the University of Bethlehem: students have pursued internships at the Crèche and professors are not only involved in the Crèche activities but also engage in studies of children as well as providing special therapies where needed.
Many facilities are provided to create an environment propitious for playful learning, such as specific spaces for games, gardens and even a swimming pool.
The Crèche is a modern structure which provides services of high quality for children and people of the Palestinian Authority Area.

The Crèche continues to function thanks to the support and the charitable contributions of our benefactors.
You too can make a donation to support the children at the Crèche.
For assistance to this effect, please visit the page Support to Crèche.