Al Aqaba Kindergarten: Haj Sami's Dreams Made Real

Thank you for supporting the Al Haq Kindergarten. This year 85 boys and girls are enrolled in the kindergarten. Children learn mathematics, Arabic, and English. Children are also offered recreational activities. 

Unfortunately, the ongoing war is having a negative impact on the children of Al Haq Kindergarten and their studies. 

• Children are fully aware of the ongoing war. Perhaps they get to overhear their parents and see images on TV or computers. They feel scared. Teachers find many children sitting sadly or quietly in the class. Some children have raised questions about death, and where they will go when they die.
    
• The kindergarten has reached out to their parents requesting that they turn off the TV, be cautious about what they see and talk about in front of their children, and change the subject. 
  
  
• Sometimes, the Ministry of Education closes all the schools in the West Bank to assure the safety of children. 
  
  
• Even before the war started, tensions in the area were high because the Israeli Army set up  checkpoints nearby in Tayaseer, sometimes using intense tear gas.  Sometimes Al Aqaba's Kindergarten bus cannot bring the children to school and back. 

Ever since the war began, travel to Israel is prohibited. As a result, many of Al Aqaba's parents are out of work because they do agriculture or construction in Israel. Now, many parents cannot afford to pay the modest tuition for their kindergarteners.

The Al Haq Kindergarten offers partial scholarships to children whose financial conditions are tight. The kindergarten is already working on a very limited budget. In this time of need, please consider making a recurring donation so that we can pay for more scholarships.

Thanks for all that you do.

Another academic year has ended at Al Haq Kindergarten in Al Aqaba and 64 kindergarteners graduated. An elaborate graduation ceremony was held for the kindergarteners who looked cheerful in their graduation gowns. Parents were happy with the progress children made and the care they received.

Because of excellent education, the reputation of Al Haq kindergarten has spread far and wide with more and more children joining. 56 children have already registered for the coming year and many more are expected to join in August. Some of the earliest students of the kindergarten, who have now become parents, are happily sending their children to attend Al Haq Kindergarten. Others in the neighboring areas are opting for Al Haq over a kindergarten that provides free education. Teachers are constantly working to improve themselves by learning new teaching techniques through refresher courses and training at Al Quds Open University in Tubas. 

The kindergarten pays special attention to extracurricular activities and organizes many activities for children.

• A Quran Recitation Competition was held. Children were also introduced to the daily prayers.
• A special event was held in memory of the Nakba–a key moment in Palestinian history. (Seen in the black and white images shared below)
• Children also visit the Ibn Rushd Library regularly. Because of a lack of resources, the kindergarten is unable to run the breakfast program. Parents sometimes voluntarily offer healthy food to children. 

Despite all of its success, the kindergarten is functioning on a very tight budget, with its main source of income being the tuition fee, which is only 150 Shekels per child. Many struggling parents are unable to pay even this minimal fee and have to be accommodated by the school. Despite the generosity of donors, the kindergarten still faces a lack of resources, highlighted below by some of the teachers.

Teachers have shared some of their challenges: Because of a lack of supplies and stationery, they are unable to conduct some activities. Many times they pay for supplies out of their own pocket and buy children gifts despite a very low salaries. Because kindergarten toys are broken, teachers make their own toys with plastic or use carton boxes. They also bring their own laptops to class because there are no visual aids in the kindergarten. 

The teachers let us know what they would love to see in the their classrooms, in an ideal world: they would like new teaching aids such as a projector, printer, stationery, educational toys, etc. They want to make kindergarten more attractive, interactive, and colorful for the children. They also would like carpets for the floor because it gets too cold during the winter. 

The kindergarten needs your support to continue offering a quality education, and to improve in some of the areas mentioned by the teachers. Thank you for all that you do!