Popemobile to be converted into mobile health clinic for Gaza kids

A Popemobile used by the late Pope Francis will be turned into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip*, as part of a donation made by the pontiff* in the months before his death.

The iconic* open-sided vehicle, designed to allow the pontiff to greet crowds of wellwishers, has been transferred to Caritas Jerusalem and will head to Gaza if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor*.

The car, a converted Mitsubishi, was used by the pope during a 2014 visit to Bethlehem and had since been on display, gathering dust and rust. It has now been repaired and refurbished* as a mobile clinic.

“With the vehicle, we will be able to reach children who today have no access to healthcare — children who are injured and malnourished,” said Caritas Sweden secretary-general Peter Brune.

Brune told AFP that Sweden’s Cardinal Anders Arborelius had asked the late Pope, who died on April 21 aged 88, to put the spare vehicle to use providing essential frontline healthcare to Palestinian children.

It will be fitted with medical equipment, including rapid tests, suture kits*, syringes, oxygen supplies, vaccines, as well as a fridge for storing medicines. It will also be assigned a driver and a team of doctors.

“This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by His Holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis,” said Caritas Jerusalem secretary-general Anton Asfar.

It was not clear, however, if or when the aid agency’s hoped-for humanitarian corridor would open.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN GAZA?
No aid has entered Gaza for the past two months because of an Israeli blockade* since early March, where all food, fuel and water have been prevented from entering the region. The lack of access has led to widespread famine and what has been described as the worst humanitarian crisis in almost 19 months of war.

Israel also ended its ceasefire in mid-March, restarting air strikes and capturing large areas of territory. It now controls about 50 per cent of Gaza and has recently approved plans to seize the entire Gaza Strip.

Israel’s military has said the expanded operations approved by the security cabinet on Sunday would include displacing* “most” of Gaza’s population.

According to international aid agency UNICEF, almost 70 children are injured each day as a result of the Gaza conflict.

With every second person in Gaza a child, young people are bearing the brunt of the violence, UNICEF communication specialist Tess Ingram said after she visited Gaza during the height of the war in April last year.

“Children are wearing a tremendous share of the scars of this war,” she said. “The thousands of injured in Gaza struggle to receive the medical care they need. The medical directors of some of the 11 partially functioning hospitals that remain told me that the lack of staff and supplies – needles, stitches, anaesthetic – is negatively impacting the care they can provide, especially for surgeries.”

Nearly all of the Hamas-controlled Palestinian territory’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once during the war.

The war began when Hamas – listed as a terrorist organisation by Australian National Security – launched a terrorist attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023.

Approximately 1200 people were killed and about 250 people, including children, were taken hostage. Israel has said about 59 people remain captive but about 35 of these people are believed to be dead.

FEATURES OF A POPEMOBILE
Popemobiles have changed quite a bit over time, according to the needs and preferences of each pontiff, but the purpose has remained the same – to provide a safe place for the pope that also allows him to be visible to crowds during papal* visits.

According to Britannica.com, the term “popemobile” was coined in 1979, during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland. His popemobile was a yellow, glass-sided, 15-seat van that looked more like a parade float vehicle than the popemobiles we have come to recognise today.

In 1981 Pope John Paul II was shot in an assassination attempt while riding in a different popemobile – an open-air Fiat 1107 Nuova Campagnola during an appearance at St Peter’s Square in Rome.

Fortunately His Holiness survived, however, the attempt on his life sparked a major change in the way popemobiles were designed – with most now requiring windows of bulletproof glass or plastic and bullet-resistant glazing.

Other security measures included armoured plating and a step at the back bumper for security personnel to stand on.

The late Pope Francis was said to have not enjoyed riding in the popemobile, describing it as feeling like a “sardine can”. Instead, he often walked among crowds and drove in “modest” vehicles such as a Ford Focus and a Renault 4L, states Britannica.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• Gaza Strip: a narrow piece of land on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Egypt and Israel, that is part of the Palestinian state. The other territory that is part of the Palestinian state is the West Bank
• pontiff: another term for the Pope
• iconic: very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time
• humanitarian corridor: an agreement between parties involved in an armed conflict that allow for the safe passage of humanitarian aid and refugees in and out of a crisis region
• refurbished: fixed up and renovated
• suture kits: medical kits for stitching up wounds
• blockade: sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving
• displacing: forcing someone or something out of their usual or proper place
• papal: relating to the pope

EXTRA READING
Remembering Pope Francis
Australia calls for ceasefire in Gaza
Australian boy, 10, writes of his ‘terrifying’ time in war zone

QUICK QUIZ
1. Why did Pope Francis donate his popemobile?
2. When was it last used by the pontiff?
3. What sort of medical equipment will the popemobile be furnished with?
4. How many children are injured each day in Gaza because of the war?
5. What is one security feature of the popemobile?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What do you think?
Do you think an aid corridor to Gaza should be opened? Write a list of reasons for your answer.

Time: allow at least 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability

2. Extension
What do you know about the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians? Use your research skills to find out more. Use the information that you have found to create a timeline of at least 10 important events that will help other kids understand this conflict.

Time: allow at least 60 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, History

VCOP ACTIVITY
BAB it!
Show you have read and understood the article by writing three sentences using the connectives “because’’, “and”, and “but” (BAB). Your sentences can share different facts or opinions, or the same ones but written about in different ways.