Al Aqaba Kindergarten: Haj Sami's Dreams Made Real

Greetings from Rebuilding Alliance!

As donor to Rebuilding Alliance’s Teaching in a Village Under Demolition Orders project, we would like to thank you for your kindness and generosity.

I am writing to let you know that we have some exciting news. First, because of your generosity two American teachers are heading to Al Aqaba. One of them, Kali Rubaii, will be soon is en route to join in Al Aqaba in July for summer camp!

Second, a Rebuilding Alliance team will be walking the halls of Congress on behalf of your commitment to the kindergarten of Al Aqaba. We will ask Senators and Congressmen to intervene to urge the Government of Israel to open and repave the road so that the kindergarteners can get to school without delays.

Third, GlobalGiving has opened up a competition to help projects get reliable monthly funding.

Do you know that it costs $320 a month to pay a Palestinian teacher’s salary in Al Aqaba village? So far, our grant covers one month of salary. We would like to fund a teacher for a whole year. Could you help make a monthly recurring donation of $20? If 16 donors contribute $20 every month, we’ll have it! This is an opportunity for you to make a long term difference for the children of Al Aqaba. I invite you to setup your reoccurring donation for Teaching in a Village Under Demolition Orders today.

GlobalGiving’s Recurring Donation Campaign lasts until May 20^th. By signing up for a recurring donation now, you can help this project qualify for an additional $1,500!  Please give before the end of the day Friday, May 20 EST.

Please select the “Recurring option” under the big orange “donate” button. Click here

Thank you again. We hope that through your thoughtful contributions we can fund one more kindergarten teacher through the year ahead.

Rudolfo San Miguel

GlobalGiving Coordinator

Rudolfo@rebuildingalliance.org

PS: As always feel free to send me any questions.

Hello everyone!

My name is Rudolfo San Miguel. I have been volunteering with Rebuilding Alliance for close to a year now and I am proud of the work we have done.  I am delighted to be invited to join the staff part-time to provide monthly status reports for each of our projects on GlobalGiving.  My background is in Technical and Professional Writing.  When deciding on a career path, I felt the need to focus my work in support of important nonprofits like the Rebuilding Alliance.

Unfortunately, I am writing today with news that is not good.

On Thursday morning, April 7th, kindergarteners looked on from their school bus as Israeli soldiers barricaded access to, and then destroyed, several sections of the Peace Road, the main road in and out of Al Aqaba village.  Al Aqaba is a tranquil and conflict-free village in the West Bank, where villagers have worked together to prevent total demolition over the past 20 years. Now piles of concrete and dirt from the bulldozed road force the village's only school bus, which was already straining to meet the transportation needs of 200 children, to take a long detour several times daily.  To say nothing of the psychological impact this situation has had on these young kids, they now have a another obstacle in the way of their education.

In response, the Rebuilding Alliance is asking everyone to sign our petition, "Open the Road to Al Aqaba, Pave the Road to Peace".  Our goal is to ask our elected officials to contact the Israeli Embassy and urge the State of Israel to fix what their army destroyed.   Please sign the petition!  If you have 15 minutes more, please call the senior staffer for foreign policy at your legislator's office.  The Rebuilding Alliance will travel to Washington D.C. in May to knock on the doors of our Congress-people to ask for their support, won't you call ahead and announce our visit?  Let's get that road fixed by the end of summer!

Sign here:  http://www.change.org/petitions/open-the-road-to-al-aqaba-brpave-the-road-to-peace

Please call me at 1 650 325-4663 or email me at Rudolfo@RebuildingAlliance.org as questions arise.  You can learn more about the situation by reading our web page, www.RebuildingAlliance.org.

I hope that despite this setback, you will continue to support our projects.  I know the villagers deeply appreciate your commitment to them in this time of challenge and need.

Sincerely,
Rudolfo San Miguel

Links:

• Petition: "Open the Road to Al Aqaba, Pave the Road to Peace"
• Rebuilding Alliance Page
• Adam Keller's blog article