Al Aqaba Kindergarten: Haj Sami's Dreams Made Real

Dear Friend,

It is with great sadness that I write to tell you of the passing of a great man. Rebuilding Alliance's partner and friend, Mayor Haj Sami, passed away today. His illness was very long and especially complicated due to paraplegia.

At the request of his family, Nejmah (our new Country Representative) and I had been working for months with him, his doctors, the Palestinian Ministry of Health, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, trying every which way to move him to a specialty hospital in Israel.  The permission finally came, but an hour after he suffered a heart attack.

Such a great man. Such an honor to know him. May Mayor Haj Sami rest in peace at long last, and may his wisdom and courage continue to guide and safeguard Al Aqaba Village and the homeland he so loved.

I look foward to sharing memories about this visionary man's life in the days to come.  Perhaps you met him personally during his U.S. speaking tour, or maybe you worked with him, or stayed in Al Aqaba at the guesthouse. If you have a special story that you would like me to share, please email me at contact@rebuildingalliance.org.

Please keep his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely,
Donna

Rebuilding Alliance often refers to Al Aqaba Kindergarten as the beating heart of the village. Due to the kindergarten, the village's demolition orders were put on hold in 2008. To this day, the village and kindergarten remain and are such a model that Rebuilding Alliance brought Congressional staff there in February 2020 (just before COVID) to show them the remarkable investments that happened as a result of the kindergarten and its mayor.

Unfortunately, 53 schools in Area C are not so lucky and are currently at risk for demolition. Rebuilding Alliance's advocacy team is hard at work holding briefings for members of Congress in an effort to keep schools standing. Al Aqaba Kindergarten is an example of how schools built in the center of villages can make all the difference to help a community thrive. 

According to Human Rights Watch, “more than a third of the Palestinian communities in Area C, which constitutes 60% of the West Bank, do not currently have primary schools, and there are 10,000 children who go to school in tents or huts. About 1,700 children have been forced to walk 5 kilometers or so more to school because of road closures, lack of roads to cross [i.e. bridges and crosswalks], transportation, or other problems." 

A school's central location ensures that students don't have to travel far in difficult circumstances just to get an education. One of the schools at risk is Al Maleh in the Jordan Valley. Al Maleh students used to travel to Al Aqaba Kindergarten by bus through a checkpoint because there was no school in their village, which makes it all the more important to fight the demolition order for Al Maleh School. Al Aqaba Kindergarten's students used to come from five towns and villages.

In the meantime, Al Aqaba students are back at school with new PPE and social distancing requirements as pictured. Students are down to 50 from 160, partly because of parents concerned about safety and family finances as many have lost their jobs. Also, the Ministry of Education has opened competing kindergartens nearby that are free. The Ministry is adopting the Al Aqaba model to get a kindergarten in each village. 

The mayor and the kindergarten staff have been working hard to keep the school running. If you would like to sponsor an ongoing $50/month kindergarten scholarship, that would be much appreciated. Thank you so much for supporting Al Aqaba Kindergarten. Your support helps a generation of children start their journey into education and keeps this village standing.

Links:

• PNN article about Al Maleh School
• Human Rights Watch report about West Bank school demolitions