On March 13th a Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital delegation, accompanied by the new Apostolic Nuncio in Jordan Monsignor Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, went to Karak at the Italian Hospital of Karak (IHK), managed by the Comboni Sisters, where the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital intervention has been based since 2013.

Upon arrival at the Hospital, the delegation was welcomed by Sister Adele Brambilla, IHK Health Director, and Sister Alessandra Fumagalli, IHK Administration Director.

First, the Neurorehabilitation outpatients ward was visited, where 40 children are cared for on a monthly basis, followed by the two IHK therapists trained by the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital staff. The young patients undergoing treatment and their families were present. In the visit was also included a moment dedicated to the distribution of gifts to the children.

Afterwards, the delegation went to Pediatrics for the inauguration and blessing of the ward, which has 9 beds. This department was created thanks to a Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital donation.

At the end of the visit, the renewal of the mission for a further 3 years was signed by the President of Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital, Mariella Enoc.

(From the left) President Mariella Enoc, the Apostolic Nuncio in Jordan Monsignor Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, Sister Alessandra Fumagalli and Sister Adele Brambilla signing the renewal of the collaboration.

(From the left) President Mariella Enoc and the Apostolic Nuncio in Jordan Monsignor Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso inaugurating the Pediatrics ward.

The Neurology, Neurorehabilitation and Pediatric Neuropsychiatry project between the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital and the Italian Hospital of Karak has been active since September 2013.

The area of intervention was identified in close collaboration with the Comboni Sisters, who highlighted their desire to intervene on a problem to which the national health system did not respond, and still today does not respond adequately (even if important steps ahead have been made).

The objective of the intervention is to contribute firstly to overcome the cultural limit: in countries like Jordan, there is no modern cultural approach to children with disabilities and this makes the disability world a submerged world in which families often “hide” their disabled children out of cultural habit rather than looking for a way to rehabilitate them.

On the other side, the intervention aims to improve the supply and quality of care: most of the children are unable to access rehabilitation facilities which, especially in the Province of Karak, are few and with low-qualified personnel. 

During this collaboration, several missions were carried out by the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital specialists and around 1800 children with neurological and developmental disorders were examined. Of these, a good proportion were affected by Developmental Disorders, in particular Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Intellectual Disability (ID).

In the first years of activity, a rehabilitation room was also set up at the IHK where now on a regular basis every week, 40 small patients attend rehabilitation courses thanks to the presence of two local therapists trained by the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital specialists.