New Outreach Head Remains Stalwart

Nurse Practitioner Khaled Zuaiter takes over as coordinator

New Outreach Coordinator, Khaled Zuaiter, took over from Nasralah Khalilia in the post at the beginning of the year.  He could not have begun his tenure at the helm of the team at a more testing time. 

Khaled has been with the Hospital Group since 1994, joining Outreach ten years later as manager for the original Outreach 1 team.  With Nasralah’s move to the School of Nursing in January 2011, and the loss of our second Outreach programme, Khaled now has overall responsibility for the project.

Almost half the population of the OPT live in poverty.  As incomes have fallen and assets have been exhausted; living conditions have been further eroded by the decline in the quality of health and education services, and the difficulties in accessing them.  In the last five years, the target demographic of the Outreach team has more than doubled and Khaled has taken over the project at one of the most difficult times that the Hospital Group has ever faced.  

Nevertheless, Khaled’s faith in St. John remains strong, as does his dedication to helping his fellow Palestinians.  Being from the West Bank, Khaled understands how difficult life can be for those in need of healthcare there.  “If you don’t go to the patients, they don’t come to you”, he explains of the multitudinous obstacles imposed on entry to East Jerusalem.

Originally from the village of Sawaherey, near Bethlehem, Khaled currently lives in East Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives area, with his wife and three young children.  Even though Jerusalem is a very expensive city to live in, the benefit of not having to go through checkpoints and experience delays coming into work every day is enough to keep him there.

Khaled spends most of his time organizing the Outreach visits, liaising with communities and making sure everything runs smoothly.  However, he loves the West Bank and is exhilarated by his Outreach visits. 

“Outreach services are free. It’s not a money-making business.  Medicine has now become a trade, with hospitals competing against each other. We screen people for free on the spot and then refer them to the main hospital or clinics, if we are unable to treat them there and then. We also educate people. We teach people about the signs and symptoms to be worried about. These are simple things that make all the difference. Most local clinics are not concerned with educating people.”

We wish Khaled all the best in his new post. 

Written by Faryal Awan, Fundraising and PR Officer