A Safe Place for Kids in Deheishe Refugee Camp

Dear readers, 

Welcome to our April Update and thanks a lot for keeping track of our work! We will leave you with a quick update this month about what is going on in- and outside Karama.

As you all know, Karama's motto is all about being a safe place for the women and children of the camp. With the arrival of spring, the children use this safe place for being active outdoors and exploring new outside games like chalk drawing. Also new women activities have taken off recently, where women share new skills among each other. Successful cooking classes, handcraft workshops and a trip have already taken place - with great pleasure of the women! They enjoy their mornings together which are often useful, entertaining and great bonding moments in the community.

But why would Deheishe actually need a safe place one might ask? The last months have shown again how much life in the camp is under threat. The frequency of night raids by the occupation army are on an all-time high, with as often as to 3 times per week the soldiers coming inside the camp to spread fear and destruction. The attacks on women and children take shocking forms. Earlier this spring, a mother was kidnapped and after one month of separation from her children in jail, she was placed under house arrest. This has put her 3 children through a nightmare, while her 12-year old son has also been summoned for questioning; treated harshly under the military system. A military system that does not acknowledge his status of a minor and where 6 out of 10 children will be subject to coercive interrogation (10 out of 10 are questioned without presence of an adult) and more than 4 out of 10 will be forced to sign papers in Hebrew; a language they don’t speak! He is no exception with his young age to come in contact with the military system. Another 12 year old boy of the camp has received an arrest warrant and refuses to sleep at home ever since. A well understood move, as violence is commonly used during arrest raids and what happens afterwards unknown. His family home has already been raided during the night several times in the last week with his older brothers arrested and beaten. While even homes are no guaranteed safe place in the camp, we will try our best to keep Karama!

Under these circumstances, the local team is doing a great job with keeping new activities going and we are excited to welcome new international volunteers soon (if the occupation let’s them through). If you know somebody who has experience in working with children or teaching and who would love to join our team in Palestine, they are always welcome to send us an email or fill in the application form directly on our website!

Our best wishes from the whole team!