A Safe Place for Kids in Deheishe Refugee Camp

You remember this picture from last summer? It received the most likes on our Facebook as a bright expression of happiness & friendship, beating isolation and separation!

These boys live only 10 kilometers apart, but met for the first time last summer overcoming restrictions and fear in an area crippled by Jewish-only settlements.  The young communities of Deheishe (a refugee camp) and Khirbet Zakaria (a village in Area C surrounded by settlements) lack opportunities for the teenagers to develop and recreate. But in Karama’s summer camp they can come together to express themselves creatively and build new friendships.

Let’s do it again this summer!

During the summer of 2015 Karama will bring together teenagers from both Deheishe can Khirbet Zakaria. They will enjoy a program with recreational activities as well as workshops that stimulate learning, friendship, leadership and responsibility towards nature and each other. We will work with local Karama volunteers and social workers, while international volunteer will contribute with their creative skills as well. Such a positive experience can impact any girl's or boy's life for the better!

Why is this Wednesday important? Global Giving will match all your donations from 9AM till midnight EDT (starting 1PM GMT for our friends in Europe). 75,000 USD in matching funds are available and EVERY donation – how small, how big – will receive a bonus! On this day you can make your donation go a lot further! And with every dollar, Karama will deliver a program more packed with resources and creativity.

How can you help?

1. Share this email with friends & family so they are aware of this opportunity for Karama!
2. Like our Page on facebook to show your support for Karama.
3. Join our Event Page on FB so you will be updated and can show your support!
4. Open your email on Wednesday to receive the link where you can donate.

We can’t wait for the holiday to start and work together with these youth! Boys like Bara deserve a space to develop themselves away from stress and violence. Karama wants to equip and empower them; with your help we can do that.

Thank you so much for your continuing support - it is a special feeling to know we in Deheishe can count on the thoughts and solidarity from people around the world! 

Get in touch with us - we love to hear from you - on Facebook or hit reply! 

In the last update we asked you for monthly donations so we would be able to hire a social worker for a sustainable investment in the children attending our center. We are happy that you have responded to our request and we can point out that we are on the way to reaching our goal for the children!
 

So, let us start with thanking you for the support you have given us in the last months!
Please keep giving and share our message!:)

This month, we want to give you a bit more insight in the conditions surrounding our youth in Deheishe and why we want to keep the older children engaged in our activities. At Karama we see the youth as the change- makers for the future. Young new leaders are waiting to stand up to make a difference and inspire their community from within. By giving them responsibilities in our activities they are able to grow into their future roles.

When you talk to the youth in Deheishe Camp, you can feel their energy to make a change. Therefor it’s even harder to see that due to a lack of possibilities, this energy grows less every day. Not being channeled to a good cause they slowly lose their force.

Image when you were younger and had many dreams and plans for your future and how you were able to set this in motion to achieve these dreams. Now imagine those same dreams but no means or possibilities whatsoever... Just having to stand by and see your dreams slowly fade away. Eventually this generation is losing hope and is unable to make a fair living for themselves. The negative circumstances lead them to poverty, depression and so on.

Reports confirm that unemployment and poverty in the Palestinian Territories leads young people to frustration and despair. It harms their dignity and creates social and political problems.The conditions in the Refugee Camps not only affect the mind but it also affects the body. Limited exercise, unhealthy diets (minimum intake of fresh vegetables and maximum intake of sugar), stress; all these factors contribute to health risks. "Obesity, smoking and inactivity are the main health risks for young people," a report says about the Palestinian youth. As stated in an article by Hazem Balousha "A number of studies have shown that 25% of adolescents and 30% of girls are obese or overweight. An UNRWA study said that 70% of females of reproductive age and more than half of women under 30 are overweight."

Let’s meet Ibrahim, he is a 22 year old refugee from the Deheishe Camp. Although he studied at a University, he is not able to find a job that matches his education. Not wanting to give up under the circumstances he now works at a fruit stand at the side of one of the main streets to Bethlehem. Here he earns about 30 Shekels a day for working as much as 8- 10 hours a day…

Please keep in mind that 5 Shekel is about 1 Euro and the taxi drive to his work place already costs him 3 Shekel! Now he is barely able to contribute to his family, not even thinking about saving for his future. You can imagine this can break somebodies spirit. But you will see that the youth here have a strong spirit and are willing to work hard to make a difference for themselves.

Not willing to abandon them to their fates, Karama offers the youth of Deheishe a first step to a better life. And we hope you will do this with us. We believe that together we can make a difference.
 

Benefits of projects focused on youth by Karama.
One of our goals is to empower young people to have the ability and life skills to change their own future. By giving them a safe (learning-) environment where they can put their skill in to use, they can gain work and life experience that will prepare them for a future where they can be self-reliant. By doing so, this will increase their quality of life. That is why, in the next round of rooftop gardens starting this spring we want to engage the young people from Deheishe. The UN Youth Fund has already showed interest in funding gardens for young refugee women in the camp and Karama is eager to engage them in this initiative!

Will you help us to include more participants, so we can also engage young men like Ahmed in this project?With 600 dollars we can start an extra garden. If 12 of our supporters donate 50 dollars we can already help Ahmed to produce on his roof!

Producing food will give the youth in Deheishe Camp both physical independence and psychological freedom from the occupation. They will learn to be able to take care of themselves and maybe even to take care of their families in the future. And pass their skills onto their own children.

Something we see too often over the past few years is the outflow of educated, talented youth from Palestine abroad, unable to find a fair job in their own country. This emigration of intelligent, well-educated individuals to somewhere else for better pay or conditions causes Palestine to lose skilled and ambitious people. Something we are so bad in need for! We will go against this trend and ‘brain drain’ and maybe even inspire those who left the land to come back and use it. To plant and harvest together for a happier and healthier life.
 

Keep us in your thoughts!:) We love to hear from you!

Links:

• Karama in Palestinian media