Music is a powerful tool for children & youth to communicate their hopes and aspirations. This innovative project will offer 30 children and 7 youth from Dheisheh Refugee Camp the chance to develop their artistic skills and create 3 original songs that send their message to the outside world. Shoruq Organization (meaning "Sunrise") will organize weekly workshops in lyric writing, voice training, melody composing, and training on basic percussion. There will also be monthly educational workshops.
Palestinian refugees make up the vast majority of the Palestinian population but their voices are often missing from important local and international discourse. Poverty, overcrowding, and other socioeconomic problems create many barriers for young Palestinian refugees and their school curriculum focuses on basic subjects and rote memorization. This environment breeds frustration and desperation because children and youth lack the tools and outlets to express themselves.
This project will target 30 children, age 8-12, in Dheisheh Refugee Camp. We will give them a chance to explore and develop their artistic abilities and self-expression. It will be an empowering experience and will result in three original songs that we will distribute to local radio stations, post on websites, and send to our friends around the world. The children will also learn about their rights to help inform their messages to the world.
This project will help create a culture of creative expression among the new generation in the refugee camp. It will also provide 7 young people, the project assistants, with marketable skills and experience in leading group activities, assisting with studio recording and improving their musical skills. Shoruq has built a professional audio production studio in the refugee camp and will make it available to the children and youth for any future projects free of charge.
