Nidal Salameh, director of Al Saqada Medical Center in Bethlehem.
Photo exhibition Faces of the Mediterranean
Nidal Salameh, director of Al Saqada Medical Center in Bethlehem.
A few hundred meters from the chaos of Bethlehem's souk, the bright colors of carpets and the pungent smell of spices, in a three-story building a group of doctors, paramedics and nurses care for the poorest families in the city and district. Called Al Saqada Medical Center, this project started in 2000 on the initiative of two friends, both political prisoners in an Israeli cell in the early 1990s.
Fifty people, including doctors, nurses and paramedics, take turns at Al Sadaqa Medical Center. Eighteen specialists, from gynecologist to dentist, cardiologist to urologist, otolaryngologist to orthopedist. Each month they see 5,000 to 8,000 patients, Christians and Muslims, from the city of Bethlehem and surrounding farming villages. The Palestinian National Authority, short of funds, fails to provide support for the sick: the Al Sadaqa center, in its small way, tries to cover at least an infinitesimal part of the gap.
Alessandro Bartolini
Born in Poppi, Arezzo, in 1966, he is a civil engineer by profession and a photographer by passion. In 2005 he organized his debut photography exhibition focused on the reality of Palestinian citizens. A traveler and engineer, Alessandro has creatively combined his technical training with his passion for photography.
