By Yasser Alhaj | Project Director
From Karama Organization we send you our warm greetings and a big thank you note for helping us being an open and positive place in Deheishe Refugee Camp. With your help we have given emergency educational support and additional workshops for the children of the camp in the last month and we are happy to send you this update.
Life in the camp continues to be characterized by the strike of the UNRWA employees. Many basic services are now stopped due to a long-standing dispute over UNRWA’s general (employment) policy. Dissatisfaction among the refugees is great because of the reactions from both UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority (PNA). The slow response of the government structures and the disinterest of the UNRWA to seriously consider the staffs demands are taken heavy by the refugees. Many refugees already feel distant from the PNA structures and the disregard for their current situation adds to their feeling both the government and the UNRWA are not considering their rights. Our children’s right to education should not be comprised however in this situation and Karama continues to find ways to fulfil this right! Your donations have been used for this aim and organized classes in Arabic and mathematics in the mornings.
After the emergency classes our volunteers continue with activities for the children of all ages. Both inside in the library as well as outside the children are stimulated to learn and work together. Through encouraging the children to take up a book in our library, we hope to improve their language skills. Without the kids attending school during the day, it is striking how quick their level is deteriorating. During one of our reading groups, several 5th graders where taking turns in reading a short story in English. Bayaan, 10 years old, was also pretending to read a bit. But when it was her turn to read out loud she shied away. “I’m sorry Miss” was her reply, “I forgot the English letters. Nobody studies English with me at home”. With your help we can continue to give her a place where she feel comfortable to learn and grow!
Besides the classes we will soon start to work on our outside play area! We look forward to use it again as soon as the weather permits it. A new football goal and volleyball net will hopefully be part of these efforts so more active team sports can be played together.
We continue to be open for volunteers to help us with the educational activities for the children or the advancement of our outside playgrounds. Currently one of our international volunteers for example, is giving the music lessons and helps with English reading. If you or anybody among your friends or family would be interested you can read more information on our website or send an email to volunteers@karama.org
Do you know you can connect with us on Facebook too for updates? Find the link below and stay in touch!
Thank you for being part of this project!
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
