Three video calls were held over Zoom in November with the Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (SMOTJ) members who visit Bethlehem University annually in December as part of their pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
A total of sixteen students who study at the Tarek Juffali Faculty of Nursing and receive scholarships from the SMOTJ joined the calls.
The video calls began with brief remarks by CAPT Chev. Keith H. Larson, USN (ret), Chairman of the Raymond G. Davis Templar Foundation, the charitable arm of the SMOTJ, and a welcome note from Chev. Jeffrey P. Agnes GCTJ, GMTJ, Grand Prior of SMOTJ. The calls were coordinated by Dame Sudie Parker Henson.
Dame Shahinda Nassar, member of the Preceptory of the Holy Land and Development Officer at Bethlehem University, talked briefly about Bethlehem University, the Nursing program and explained how the University is handling teaching during the Pandemic.
She also briefed the audience about the impact that the scholarship program is having on identifying and funding students in the Holy Land.
Ms. Mariam Awad, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, talked about both the nursing and physical therapy programs, and how the Faculty interacts and interfaces with the community.
The students met their sponsors through the calls and were then given the space to introduce themselves, talk about the reason they chose to study nursing or physiotherapy, and their future plans.
SMOTJ members of the various priories joined the calls and were very much interested and excited to meet students of Bethlehem University.
Below are some photos of the video calls:
