From inside the hotel, Gharib, head of the Together for Life organization that works to support Palestinians with intellectual disabilities, explains that the new project saw the light of day only weeks ago in an old house from the 1990s that had been restored. It aims to highlight the capabilities of the disabled.
Upstairs, where the original stone walls and tile drawings have been preserved, Ghorayeb points to disabled people’s work in all of the hotel’s chores, from washing clothes to serving food.
And she continues: “We tried to know the capabilities of the core members and allow them to do what they can, and to strengthen that with training to improve their capabilities.”
Workers suffer from diseases such as autism spectrum, Down syndrome, or disabilities related to head injuries.
- exceptional hotel
While arranging a hotel room overlooking the hills south of Bethlehem, 27-year-old Mariam Kansan says she grew up in Together for Life, which she joined as a teenager and made friends.
Mary was assigned a morning task, who had to clean the tables, after the customers had finished eating breakfast, which she did after the French tourists, Veronique Gandon and Herve Tisserand, had finished eating.
For Tisserand, 64, the hotel is “a bit exceptional”. As for Gandon, 62, she explains that she was not aware of the social project when they booked at the hotel. She adds, “I think it is a good project if it contributes to the association getting more revenue. It is a way to publicize its project.”
The organization’s members also make woolen handicrafts using sheep’s wool supplied to them by local shepherds.
Donations and proceeds from the sale of woolen products are also resources for the organization.
Ghareeb explains that opening the hotel guarantees them a stable source of income. “We don’t have a real government and there is no fixed donor, so we have to rely on ourselves,” she says.
The cost of renovating the hotel, which bears the name “Together”, amounted to about $200,000, which was secured from donors from Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Canada. “Together for Life” communicates with the Italian organization “Albergo Etico”, which oversees several hotels that employ people with disabilities.