Nurse Rula
A compilation of visual narratives from the field: #usaidwbg Storytelling Series
Rula Bandak manages the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem. The hospital is known as a lifeline for Palestinian women experiencing high-risk pregnancies. Some of these babies were born before term, and others are critical cases who cannot yet breathe or survive on their own.
“We have extremely premature babies, around 500 grams (1.1 pounds), whose parents have lost all hope that they would come out of the intensive care alive.” — Rula
The hospital receives cases from all around the West Bank, including mothers who had been told by other hospitals that their babies would not survive being born so early. Some travel from places like Ramallah or Jericho, enduring hours-long journeys to reach the hospital.
Rula has worked at Holy Family Hospital since 2009. USAID gave her a scholarship that allowed her to study for two years at Bethlehem University to earn her formal accreditation as a neonatal nurse specialist.
Rula lives close to the hospital with her husband and their three daughters. She gave birth to 4-year-old twins, Lourd and Lamar, at Holy Family Hospital. Her oldest daughter, Bernadette, is 9.
Holy Family Hospital provides maternal and child health services in Bethlehem, specializing in neonatal care and high risk deliveries. The hospital largely relies on donations, and patients pay what they can afford. In 2007, with support from USAID and the Belgian Government, a new floor was added for a labor and delivery ward and a larger NICU. The hospital has grown to include outreach clinics to serve low-income families in remote areas that have difficulty accessing health services.
The hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit opened in 1998, the first in the southern West Bank. USAID has supported the hospital since 2005 expanding access to neonatal and gynecology services; training doctors, nurses and midwives; and procuring critical medical equipment.
The hospital is one of at least 274 public and private health care facilities that USAID supports throughout the West Bank benefiting more than 700,000 people.
This blog is part of USAID’s West Bank and Gaza storytelling series. It is a compilation of stories of individuals, families and communities working to improve their societies — towards growth and progress. They are the inspiring stories of people we work with.
Check out more video portraits at USAID’s storytelling hub. Explore more stories from the Middle East. Follow @USAIDWBG, @USAIDMiddleEast and @USAID.
About the Author
Sahar Kalifa is a Senior Communications Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs. Most recently, she led several PR campaigns for USAID to advance its work globally, including the agency’s first regional communications initiative. Previously, she served as a writer, producer, and creative strategist developing new content for USAID’s storytelling and multimedia platforms focusing on human interest videos and stories from around the world. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Communications for USAID’s Israeli-Palestinian Program.
