As part of the JOIN Volunteer Swap, the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem welcomes medical students and volunteers of JOIN members with relevant experiences for a practical short-term placement. Christoph Hörentrup, a volunteer from Bielefeld in Germany took this opportunity and travelled to Jerusalem in August. This is what he reports:
“For 6 days in August 2026, I was a trainee in the main operation theatre of Saint John Eye Hospital of Jerusalem. While I am based in Bielefeld/Germany and am following an apprenticeship to become a paramedic, Johanniter International (JOIN) gave me this excellent opportunity to spend a part of my clinical-practical education in Jerusalem.
The clinic is seated about two kilometres North of the Old City of Jerusalem and I got there by a daily walk from the hostel in the Old City where I stayed. But it can also be reached by the Jerusalem light train whose next station is about 600 metres away.
During my stay at the main operation theatre of Saint John, I could observe several kinds of interventions on human eye defects, such as cataract cure, measures against glaucoma, squint correction, intravitreal injections, scleral buckle application, retinal laser treatment and others as well as examinations under anesthesia.
In my view, the extraordinarily high frequency of surgical cataract treatment, mostly done under local anesthesia, and its almost bloodless execution, could elevate this intervention to the status of exemplary surgery for laypersons. For me, it has been highly instructive and I wish to repeat here my word of thanks to the doctors and theatre nurses who allowed me to watch their work and to answer my questions afterwards.
Long-serving theatre nurse Mousa Abdul Hameed, who noticed my wish to learn some expressions, taught me three main steps of a cataract surgery in Arabic: Breaking of the (old and cloudy) lens – takseer al-‘adasa, removal of the lens – sahab al-‘adasa – and implantation of the (new artificial) lens – zira’at al-‘adasa. Besides, or rather: more importantly, him as well as the other nurses succeeded in preparing an atmosphere of generous but not coercive hospitality. All of them spoke good English and with many I had pleasant and highly interesting exchanges about things beyond work.
For me as a paramedical student, it has been particularly valuable to accompany and assist the anesthesists and their assistants in the preparation and monitoring of generally anesthetised patients because care for unconscious patients is an important and recurring issue in paramedicine and emergencies. Anesthesist Dr. Khadeeja Faroun deserves my particular expression of gratitude for having taken my desire to learn and the didactic task of my training very seriously.
Aside from sites which are holy in different monotheist religions, central Jerusalem exhibits a vibrant commercial life. Fresh food is available in numerous shops in and around the Old City but walks to the daily market in the Mahaneh Yehudah quarter also proved worthwhile.
The National Library of Israel offers computer stations that allowed me to edit and print a document I needed. Like I had guessed, it was right to leave my own computer at home. A USB stick was sufficient.
The week-end allowed for travels. Having reached Bethlehem by bus on Saturday, a taxi driver offered me several options among which I could choose. For a reasonable price, he took me to the Aida refugee camp where many local and international artists had colourfully depicted their political statements. After that, he drove me to several original artworks by the British street artist Banksy who had been active in Bethlehem.
On Sunday, I went to Bethlehem again, but prolonged my trip by taking a bus to Hebron. There I visited the Machpelah with its tombs of ancient celebrities like Abraham. The city of Hebron is also famous for glass manufacturing. I easily found gifts for the dear ones at home there.”