A Palestinian legacy in Norfolk

By Louise Priest, BBC Norfolk

Bahaa has moved to Norfolk from a refugee camp

A teenager from Bethlehem has swapped life in a Palestinian refugee camp for a new start in Norwich, thanks to the work of a late Norfolk priest.

The Reverend Canon John Aves died in 2004, just two weeks before returning home from his voluntary work in the Dheisheh refugee camp in the holy city.

His family have set up an educational link in his memory, which led to the arrival of 19-year-old Bahaa.

Bahaa hopes to study a degree in media during his stay in Norwich.

The connection with Bahaa was set up after Reverend Aves, diocesan director of continuing education and priest of St Giles Church, went to Jerusalem in November 2003, with an organisation called the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel.

I feel a tremendous sense of pride, because I know that this is what John would have wanted Anne Aves

"It was an initiative by the Quaker organisation. Through that, John lived and worked in the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, five or six miles from Jerusalem," said Anne, widow of Reverend Aves.

"John taught the young people English and many of the boys, such as Bahaa, loved football, so he tried to teach them about that too."

"Our son Ben is a Norwich City supporter and he actually took Bahaa to a game in February 2009, only a few days after he arrived. I explained to Bahaa that if it was a tough match, Ben would have to be treated gently!"

Dheisheh camp

The camp where John was working, Dheisheh, was one of fifty four that had been constructed since 1948. Reverend Aves built many deep friendships with the people who lived and worked there.

"When John was in the camp, he built a companionship with a second-generation refugee called Ziad," said Anne.

Reverend Aves worked at the Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem

"To begin with, the refugees lived in tents, but eventually through United Nations funding, they started to build concrete block housing.

"The winters there can be particularly chilly!"

Fifty-two year old Reverend Aves died only a few days before he was due to return to Norfolk and people in the Bethlehem camp were very sympathetic towards the family he left behind.

"We went to Bethlehem two days after John died and were welcomed by the people in the camp," said Anne.

"We were treated with such compassion, we felt we couldn't just walk away from the special link that my husband had established, particularly with Ziad," she added.

A support group to help the refugee community had been set up in Dheisheh.

"What we discovered in the camp was an organisation called IBDA - the brain child of Ziad and Khalid," said Anne.

"In Arabic, IBDA means 'to create something out of nothing'. That was an organisation we couldn't walk away from," she added.

Much time and thought was needed by Reverend Aves' family to find a way of keeping the vicar's legacy alive.

"We spent two years thinking about how to maintain the link. I felt John would have kept the link going with the camp if he had returned," said Anne.

"We wanted to make something positive out of something devastating. IBDA seeks to empower young people, such as Bahaa, to have hope for the future," she added.

Choosing a student

Anne and her family have since been fundraising and have the support from the Bishop of Norwich, Norwich MP's Charles Clarke and Ian Gibson and the Norwich YMCA to help bring students over to Norfolk.

"We went back to Bethlehem in July 2008, but didn't know how to choose a student and leave the others behind. Bahaa was chosen by the IBDA community," said Anne.

Bahaa's reaction to being chosen was one of honour and disbelief.

Many youths in Bethlehem are torn by war and have ended up in poverty

"When the dream became reality, it was amazing. It's a dream for anyone to study in English," said Bahaa.

"I particularly want to study media - to pass on our struggle, our story, our issues and to try and give the world the true story.

"Lots of people come from across the world to the camp in Bethlehem. It's very important for people to learn our language and culture."

The link between Norwich and Bethlehem is one that Anne hopes will last a lifetime.

"We hope the link will expand in the future and we hope to see more people working with us," she said.

"We have received money from a number of trust funds and I have spoken to various church groups, telling the story of John in the camp. We have charitable trust status.

"I feel a tremendous sense of pride, because I know that this is what John would have wanted."

It is early days for the support link and it is very expensive to educate overseas students, but so far, this hasn't phased Anne.

She has received huge support from friends and family, but particularly from work colleagues at Norwich City College, where Bahaa is hoping to attend in 2009.