In an alley of the old town in the city of Nablus, an elderly couple faces a daily journey burdened with illness, disability, and loneliness. Both are battling cancer, in addition to chronic illnesses including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and joint pain. They have not been blessed with children, have no relatives to support them, and no source of income to help them bear the burdens of life.
The elderly couple relies on charitable organizations, benevolent people, and neighbors to secure their basic needs. They receive their daily meals from the “Goodness Kitchen” affiliated with the Social Center Association. With the worsening economic situation and current circumstances, the continuation of this assistance has become more difficult, which has doubled their sense of instability.
The couple used to live in a rented apartment on the third floor, but climbing the stairs became a daily ordeal beyond their physical ability and a threat to their safety every time they tried to reach their home.
In contrast, they own a modest room in the old town that includes a kitchen and a small bathroom, above which there is a space that can be used. However, it was out of use due to the lack of a safe way to reach it, depriving them of benefiting from an important part of their home.
In line with its humanitarian mission, the Community Service Center at An-Najah National University implemented a project to rehabilitate the dwelling. This consisted of designing, manufacturing, and installing a safe, movable iron staircase that allows the elderly couple to easily reach the upper room, with the possibility of folding it after use to preserve space and facilitate movement inside the house.
Despite the simplicity of this intervention, it went beyond being an engineering improvement to become a humanitarian response that restored to the elderly couple a sense of safety and independence, and alleviated some of the psychological burdens imposed by years of illness, isolation, and hardship, after they became able to use the full space of their home Without fear or hardship.