Love-centred Workshop is Healing Family in Tubas

In June 2025, World Vision gathered 11 families in Jericho, West Bank for a Celebrating Families workshop. This two-day programme has been designed to strengthen family bonds and empower parents through love-centred, inclusive parenting. 

Among the participants was a family from a village in Tubas governorate: Father Ahmed*, mother Dua*, and their five children—Leila* (13), Ghada* (9), Hicham* (7), Nadim* (5), and baby Maysa* (1.5).

Their eldest daughter, Leila, lives with cerebral palsy, which causes frequent seizures. For years, the family has struggled to meet her needs amid poverty, lack of healthcare, and restrictions on movement.

Carrying Leila in his arms, Ahmed came to the workshop with heavy burdens on his shoulders. Yet he left with something he had almost lost—hope. 

The family’s daily life is marked by hardship. Essential medicines, nutritional supplements, and even diapers are out of reach due to high prices. With no rehabilitation centre nearby, and unable to afford an electric wheelchair, Leila is entirely dependent on her parents for mobility.

“We’ve reached out to several government agencies, but there’s no hope,” Ahmed explains. “I’ve been forced to carry my daughter everywhere—even to the workshop—because we have no other option.”

The challenges extend beyond Leila’s condition. Since October 2023, farming—the family’s only livelihood—has collapsed after they were deprived of access to water. Like them, dozens of thousands of families in the West Bank lack reliable access to water, and the situation is worsening.

A recent study from the WASH cluster shows that 52 communities across the West Bank faced obstacles to access water resources. Another 73 communities don't have an official water network and are forced to rely on water trucking as a main source of water.

These issues result from decades of administrative and legal restrictions, recently made worse by an increase in demolitions, confiscation, vandalism, access obstacles and violence. 

Since October 2023, more issues have made this family's life complicated. Checkpoints and closures make it near impossible to reach hospitals or access basic services.

According to the United Nations, close to 900 checkpoints and restrictions on movements are paralysing life in the West Bank.

“The hardest part?” Ahmed adds quietly. “Watching your child suffer and being powerless to help.”

A Space to Breath and Reconnect

For this family, the Celebrating Families workshop provided more than practical parenting tools—it offered space to breathe, share, and reconnect.

“It wasn’t just helpful,” says Ahmed. “It was a turning point. I felt reborn. I vowed to change: No more anger, more listening, more holding my children close.”

For the mother Dua, the experience was equally profound. “I haven’t slept a full night in years, and no one ever asked, ‘How are you?’ But in this workshop, I didn’t feel alone anymore. For once, someone listened without judging us or our daughter. They saw us.”

Together, the couple began to see their family differently—not just as caregivers weighed down by stress, but as parents capable of joy, play, and nurturing.

The children, too, felt the impact. Ghada, aged nine, recalls: “We played, we met new friends, and we spent time together as a family for the first time. Mum started listening to me more. When I talk, she stops what she’s doing and responds to me. I started feeling love for my family."

Her younger brother, Hicham, shares similar feelings: “Now, when we talk to Mum, she looks us in the eyes and doesn’t yell. They laugh more—we play together. The house feels warmer.” Home was no longer only a place of exhaustion, but of laughter and love.

Breaking Stigma, Building Inclusion

Facilitator Bahaa Nassar from World Vision explains why such workshops matter: “Children with disabilities and their families face not only material challenges, but also social stigma and isolation. This programme helps parents understand their child’s psychological and emotional needs, while strengthening communication within the family. We also emphasise hope and spiritual resilience.”

As Bahaa notes: “The Celebrating Families programme is unique because it brings husbands, wives, and children together. It creates shared understanding and helps families see themselves not just as victims of circumstance, but as units of love and strength.”

The family has already begun to put what they learned into practice. “We started talking with our children—really talking,” says Ahmed. “No more hitting, no matter how stressed we are. We laugh together now. We play. For the first time in years, our home is filled with warmth again.”

Dua adds: “I saw the change in my husband, in our children. It was a chance to understand each other, grow closer, and set goals for the future together.”

The children echo this transformation. Ghada sums it up simply: “I want my sister to have a wheelchair so she can come to school with us. And I want a place where we can play, draw, and feel truly loved.”

The family’s requests are modest, yet urgent: A rehabilitation centre in their village, assistive equipment like an electric wheelchair for Leila, and more programmes that support parents and children alike.

“There are four other children with severe disabilities in our village,” says Dua. “We all need to be heard. Programmes like Celebrating Families give us tools to parent with love, not stress. Under the current conditions, we need help to keep our families from breaking.” 

* Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the family.