Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam

Annual Summer Camp for Palestinian Children

2010-07-23T07:46:00Z

Today the Palestinian summer camp in Wahat al-Salam ended successfully. It was a significant event, with 40 children, mostly from al-Duheisheh refugee camp (and a few from 'Ayda Camp). They spent a week in the Waha, except for day trips when they visited Jaffa and sites in our area: It was a very touching moment when the children spoke about their original villages and begged to be taken to see them. The parents of many of these children came from villages not far from here, in the Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem areas, such as 'Ajjur, al-Mughallis, Zakariyya, Bayt Jibrin, Bayt 'Itab, al-Jirashah, Ras abu 'Ammar, 'Ayn Karim and also Yaffa.

Mr. Hussein al-Huroub, the managing director of the Shiraa' Association For Development in Bethlehem, who was our partner in the summer camp and brought these wonderful children from al-Duheisheh, gave positive feedback and his personal thanks.

One of the highlights of the week came on Wednesday evening, when some families from the village got together and organized a barbeque for the whole group. It was a very happy event, both for the children and their hosts.

This summer camp was a great example of positive corporation between various departments in the village: not only the Primary school, which directly organized the camp (under the management of Ms. Reem Nashef), but also the School for Peace, the Guest House, the Communications and Development Office and the municipality of WAS-NS. Both staff members and many young and adult members of the village contributed their time and energy.

Finally, our heartfelt thanks to the Bruno Hussar Foundation in Germany, who made the Camp possible.

Umar Ighbariyeh, Chair of the Educational Association.

Thanks to Nadeen Nashef for the photos

Children of War at the Oasis of Peace III

Faryal Awan — 2008-08-01T11:34:00Z

Eyes full of excitement, smiling faces, infectious enthusiasm, and dreams come true... describes the summer camp run by Wahat As-Salam / Neve Shalom for kids from refugee camps in the West Bank.

Two camp sessions were held this year, aiming to change more children's lives by reanimating the hopes and hearts of youngsters who rarely have a chance to live their dreams. For most kids living in refugee camps, experiencing life outside their camp is just a dream. This summer 86 of these children, mainly from the Tulkarem refugee camp, opened their eyes to a new life for one magical week. They were provided with opportunities that more privileged children would take for granted.

The dreams of young refugee camp children in Palestine are not like the dreams of most kids in most other countries. While an 8-year old child in London might dream of traveling to the USA, the child from Tulkarem dreams of seeing an airport; a 12-year old Israeli might dream of a trip to Disneyland, but the kid from Askar dreams of coming back one day to Wahat As-Salam. The recreational opportunities they encountered at the Oasis of Peace this past summer are exceedingly rare for these kids. The activities on offer included swimming (at the WAS/NS swimming pool) and a variety of sports, arts and crafts, cooking and baking activities, and field trips to Jerusalem and Jaffa, amongst other places.

This year's summer camp was organized somewhat differently than in the past, with the primary school running the project from start to finish. When popular teacher Reem Nashef was asked to manage this year's program, she was initially anxious about taking on something too logistically complex and challenging. But Reem loves to cook, and when she learned that all food for the campers would be prepared in-house (and not by the WAS-NS guest house), she was hooked. After school principal Anwar Dawood gave Reem the green light to “go ahead and buy three times the quantity of everything you think you need," she went on a mission to Ramle to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, and then to Jerusalem for fresh meat. Fresh-baked bread was purchased on a daily basis from nearby Abu Ghosh. Amal and Leah, who together run the school's administrative office, found themselves in a somewhat different work environment, cooking for the campers! Reem says that the good thing about having the food prepared in-house was that these chronically undernourished kids could grab a sandwich at any time. If they were hungry, they did not have to wait for meal time, but instead could make themselves some thing to eat on the spot.

Khalto (Aunt) Reem

Ahead of the first session's opening day, Reem sat with the camp counselors, all high school students from the village. They made final decisions about the various activities, agreed on how to divide the kids into groups, and talked through the myriad details to be addressed. Reem says now that the reality of it all only hit her when she went to the checkpoint to fetch the kids. Met with hugs and adoration, she quickly earned the affectionate title of 'Khalto Reem' (Aunt Reem) as a sign of respect. In fact, as the days went by, Reem was pleasantly surprised at how well-mannered these kids were. “I found it so amazing to see children behaving so well. They followed instructions and went by the rules of the camp at all times,” she says.

The children were divided into groups, each with its own group leader, a group name and a song they created on the first day. Arabic breakfast including humous, labane, eggs, and watermelon was served by the leaders every day at 8:00, after which the kids would gather by group to sing their group theme song. 'Team Warood” had its own mascot in the form of Mahmoud, a 12-year-old boy, better known as “Jackson” for his break-dancing talent. He would often motivate the team in the morning, by performing some Michael Jackson moves in the middle of the circle. Will Tantoco, an intern from the US, taught the kids the 'robot' move. They would mob him whenever they saw him, clamoring to demonstrate their 'robot' prowess.

Every morning, Reem would talk with the children about their feelings about previous day's program and explain the program for the day just beginning. The daily schedule included arts and crafts, baking things, and swimming and other sports. One day the kids enjoyed a big bouncing castle and water fights with each other and their group leaders. They were surprised that 'Khalto Reem' joined in this horseplay with them and seemed to relish being splashed with water.

Trips

Each of the field trips produced a string of "the first time I ever..." for these children: first glimpse of the sea, of a boat, of the airport! Even the sight of an Orthodox Jew in religious garb was new for them. The atmosphere rang with the innocent laughter of childhood as dozens of children clapped and cheered every time they saw something new.

Al Quds. All these campers are Muslims. Their families typically have large-framed pictures of the Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock in their sitting rooms — yet most of the children had never been to Al-Quds (Jerusalem). On their field trip there, the campers walked around the Old City, through the souq (market) and into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This was their introduction to Christianity, and they were able to relate the two monotheistic faiths because Jesus is known as the Prophet Issa in Islam. The highlight of that trip was of course the Haram Al-Sharif (Temple Mount). The children were shocked at the sheer size and because the 'Festival of Al Aqsa' was taking place when the first group visited the mosque, the entire area was packed with people. Bea Pempeit, a WAS-NS volunteer at the camp who is also a primary school teacher in her home town in Germany, was amazed at how disciplined the kids were. “They listened to the leaders and really showed respect for authority. It is very different in Germany, where you have to tell children the same thing over and over and they still don't listen — especially when they are so young.” She adds: “These kids are so different. Everything surprises them and makes them happy. They have very little, in terms of material things, yet they are still so happy. Maybe it is different when they are at home...”

Jaffa and the sea. The kids could not contain themselves on the way to Jaffa ("Are we there yet?!" "So are we there yet?!" — every two minutes). Even though they did not know much about Jaffa, the chance to see the Mediterranean was intoxicating. Most had never seen the sea except on television, and on small screens, at that. That first look at the sea evoked joy and excitement beyond even the expectations of their leaders, who had been anticipating some excitement. The children raced across the beach to the water, plunging in, swimming, laughing, shouting, splashing. Back on the sand, they made sandcastles. But there was one aspect of this experience that was oddly new and strange: “Why is the water salty?” one boy asked, and "It is hurting my cuts!" another yelped. Competing with the beach experience was the boat cruise, another thrilling first.

For two children from the second camp session, Jaffa was more than just the sea and a boat cruise. Their parents are refugees from Jaffa and had always told the children stories about what Jaffa was like. They were excited to see places that they had heard so much about without ever having imagined that they would get to see them.

Surprise extras. And to cap the travelogue, there was also a surprise trip to the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem for the first group and a trip to the Soreq stalactite cave for the second group.

It takes a village!

WAS-NS children and families were intensively involved in the camp program this year. Students from the primary school were invited for events in the evenings. They played soccer together till late hours and learnt a lot from each other. "The [Village] kids were fascinated by the folk dancing (dabke) that was performed on the last day [by the second group of campers] and are still trying to imitate them," notes Raida Aishe-Khatib, a Village resident and an English teacher at the primary school. "Our kids thought it was a pity that they didn't teach them before they left. Maybe next time we will have more interaction with both sets of children so that they can learn things from each other."

Raida also showed great Arab hospitality and kindness when she requested village families to bake homemade cakes for the campers, explaining that it was a nice gesture to make for children who were away from their homes and families for the first time ever. "It was something beautiful we could do for them, something connected to home," she said. Village residents and C&D staff agreed, responding with an array of cakes and sweets.

Parting with laughter and song

Each of the two camp sessions had different, but equally enjoyable, final evening celebrations. Intern Will Tantoco, speaking about the first group, noted that the best and most bittersweet night for them was their last night at the village. There was a big party with dancing, singing, and desserts. "The volunteer house helped make two of the cakes," he noted. "I think I took 200 pictures that night. They taught me how to do the dabke. We all laughed and danced until it was way past their bedtimes. I remember thinking that night, how I wish I could give all of them scholarships to study abroad and see other parts of the world. Working in the camp was one of the most rewarding experiences I had while interning at WAS/NS, " he concluded.

The second group performed Palestinian folk dances and put on a play, and although fewer residents were available that night to sit in the audience, those who did so were deeply moved and impressed. One such response may be found here.

For the campers, it was amazing, but not really complicated. In her thank-you note, Iman, a 9-year-old girl from Tulkarem, summed it up succinctly: “Coming to this camp, a lot of my dreams have come true... going to Jaffa, [and] Al Quds, [and] riding a train and a boat.” The camp gave these youngsters a place to vent some of the intolerable pressures they face every single day. The experience brought joy, creativity and hope into the lives of these underprivileged children and adolescents, each of whom richly deserves and desperately needs a chance for a better life. From the standpoint of the village, the consensus is that giving them a week of pleasure and joy and then sending them back to the joylessness of their miserable routine is a painful thing to do — but that giving them the experience of a lifetime and some hope for a better future is better than nothing. Every dream requires something grounded to cling to, like ivy climbing up a trellis toward the sun. Once kids have experienced the semblance of a normal life, even if only for a week, perhaps they have a better idea of what they can aim for and more strength to persevere. This, at least, is our hope for them and their families.

We would like to thank:

The German Friends of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-Salam and the Bruno Hussar Fund for another summer of generous support.

The Primary School Staff - Anwar Dawood, Reem Nashef, Raida Aishe-Khatib, Amal Skalla and Leah Klein.

The camp counselors - Mai Shbeta, Nadine Shbeta, Nadeen Nashef, Leyali Karaman-Abbas, Kerem Ben Ishay Bairey, Tali Sonnenschein.

The village youth - Sama Daoud, Sami Manaa and Nur Najjar.

The volunteers and interns - Faryal Awan, Wilfredo Tantoco, Bea Pempeit, and Megan Cipperly.

Families and staff who baked cakes, came to watch the performances, and generously gave of their encouragement and good will!

THANK YOU TO ALL!!!

An art workshop for children from Tulkarm, West Bank and pupils of the WAS-NS primary school

2008-07-01T21:11:00Z

On June 24 and 25, an activity took place in Wahat al-Salam - Neve Shalom that was the first of its kind for us. Twenty-five Palestinian children aged 8 – 13 from a refugee camp in the West Bank joined children of the WAS-NS primary school for an art workshop.

The activity was long in preparation and was made possible thanks to a special grant from the Netherlands Embassy. We thank the British Friends of Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam for additional support.

Actually, the activity was scheduled for a much earlier date, but due to the formidable bureaucracy of obtaining permits for the Palestinian children, and other objective difficulties, the event had to be postponed and re-postponed until – at almost the last moment in the school year – success! The permits were finally in place and the workshop could take place.

Background

The primary school at WAS-NS, established 1984, is a bilingual, binational educational educational system attended by 170 Arab and Jewish children (all Israeli citizens) from 25 towns in a broad area surrounding the village.

A youth centre in Tulkarm serves children of the West Bank Palestinian city and particularly the nearby refugee camp. Tulkarm, with a population of 59,000 is located 15 kilometers from the Israeli seaside town of Netanya. The refugee camp, with a population of 18,000, is inhabited by people evacuated from their former homes in what is today Israel, during the 1948 war. Tulkarm is separated from Israel by the separation barrier, while access to the city from the West Bank is controlled by military checkpoints. This means that travel to Israel is largely off-limits, and even travel to other West Bank cities is difficult.

We, and social workers on the Palestinian side, think that it is enormously beneficial for West Bank refugee children, who experience very difficult conditions, to get outside their refugee camp, broaden their knowledge of the region, meet with the Jewish and Arab children who live so close by, and taste a little freedom in their lives. For the last two years we have organized summer camps for these children and two new summer camp activities are planned for July 2008. However, these summer activities have been largely uni-national for the Arab children, and we wanted to arrange an activity in which there would be the possibility to meet children of the WAS-NS primary school.

Before the last summer camp, we were informed by the military authorities that special permits are unnecessary for children, and that the procedure of obtaining them was just a formality. However, this time, the military authorities dealt with the matter more strictly and stalled on issuing the permits. The activity had to be postponed again and again, and we were uncertain that it would even be possible to conduct the workshop before the end of the school year.

Obtaining the permits proved to be a bureaucratic nightmare in which a number of people in WAS-NS became involved. Then, when they were authorized, the Palestinian organizers were given the run-around when they attempted to collect the permits on their side. Finally, although permits were granted for the children, none were issued for any adult chaperons. This meant that teachers from the WAS-NS primary school had to leave in the middle of the school day, make the 90 minute journey to the checkpoint, and usher the children through.

The Tulkarm children arrived in the village at about noon on June 23, where they were received by the hotel staff and Reem Nashef, the primary school teacher from WAS-NS who coordinated the workshop. From the moment of their arrival, Reem became their adoptive mother (though they called her “auntie”). Perhaps she felt a special closeness to the children since she herself was born in Tulkarm.

Reem showed the children the school, but the main activity planned for the day was a visit to the WAS-NS swimming pool – a rare treat for kids who had never seen one, or ever visited the seashore, which in normal circumstances would be a fifteen minute trip from Tulkarm.

At the school and at the pool, the kids were joined by Jewish and Arab children from WAS-NS and the primary school. The fact that the Jewish children at the WAS-NS school know Arabic made conversation possible, where this would not be so in most other places. An obstacle that was just as formidable was the huge socio-economic gap. However children at the WAS-NS school had been well-prepared and showed special consideration for the Palestinian kids.

In the evening, teenagers from the village also became involved. These young people have been trained in a youth leadership course at the WAS-NS youth club. They will later be involved in guiding the summer camp activities to be held in the village in the coming month. They helped to make the children feel at home and engaged them in activities.

The next morning after breakfast, the children from Tulkarm arrived at the school and met with 30 children from the 5th and 6th grade classes. After some acquaintance games, they went to the art classrooms, dividing into two groups. Working with the children were three art teachers, Tsipi Zohar, Milla Belkis and Dyana Shalufi Rizek.

The concentration on the children's faces as they worked on their art work was visible. The teachers contributed occasional gentle guidance. For the most part an air of quiet industry prevailed in the rooms. In one assignment, the children drew images of what made them sad in the world, followed by images of what made them happy. The sad pictures by the Palestinian children showed explosions, military vehicles crushing people, and the like. The happy scenes showed natural scenes of seashores, green fields, etc. After the children had completed the art workshop, they all went to the school's computer room, where the WAS-NS school children showed their guests the lessons that they do on their computers.

The serious part of the day being over, everyone went for a special lunch at the hotel. Afterwards, the Palestinian children all wanted to re-visit the swimming pool, and that is where they spent their afternoon, up to their departure.

While at the swimming pool, Anwar and the other teachers asked the children what they had enjoyed best about their time in WAS-NS. Some said they had enjoyed most the pool. Others said that the artwork had been best. The Palestinian children asked whether it would be possible to organize another workshop like this. Disappointment was written all over their faces when they heard that if so, preference would be given to children that had not yet taken part.

As for the WAS-NS children, they too expressed their happiness at their encounter with the Palestinian children. Yasmin, a Jewish girl from the village said that it had been fun and had enjoyed all of the activities from the moment the Palestinian children arrived up to the time of their departure.

The departure, however was very difficult. When the bus came to collect them, the Tulkarm children were sad to be going home again so quickly.

Reem Nashef summed up the activity as follows:

“I was very touched by the obvious enjoyment these Palestinian children had in the village, and by their enormous appreciation for the opportunity. (Some of the children told us that this was a reward for receiving good grades at their school).

I was similarly moved on seeing the consideration, understanding and tolerance shown towards the Tulkarm kids by the children at the WAS-NS school.

It really hurt to see the sadness on the faces of the children when they were leaving. Despite all the difficulties, I really enjoyed the experience and hope that there will be further opportunities like it. Children everywhere deserve to have fun and gather happy experiences, and these children are no exception. ”

Slideshow

Photo album here

Photo-album: the pictures tour Canada

New equipment improves medical services to a West Bank town

2008-02-01T21:29:00Z

On Wednesday, February 6, a delegation from Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam traveled to the town of Naalin to mark the presentation of medical equipment to the clinic there, in the presence of the Government of Japan's representative to the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Tetsushi Kondo.

Equipping of the clinic was funded by the Japanese government after a proposal was submitted by the Humanitarian Assistance Project (HAP) team of Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam. The HAP team also saw the project through to its completion (delivery of the equipment and instruction of the medical staff in its use).

The project addresses the fundamental need of small villages and towns in the West Bank for properly equipped clinics. This need has increased in recent years due to the difficulties caused by travel restrictions placed by Israel. Naalin, for example is only a half-hour away from Ramallah Hospital and other medical centres, but the journey takes much longer, due to army checkpoints and the fact that the main road, route 443, is off-limits to Palestinians (although it was purportedly constructed for them). The clinic in Naalin will serve not only the town but a number of nearby villages.

At the meeting, the clinic's staff spoke of the warm and caring cooperative relationship that has developed between members of Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam's HAP team (especially pharmacist Adnan Manaa - a frequent visitor in the town) and Naalin's medical staff.

Photos below show the meeting in the municipal building, with Mr. Kondo and Miss Kayo Kasai from the embassy of Japan, representatives from the Palestinian Authority, Naalin's Mayor Ayman Thabet, director of the Naalin medical centre Dr. Mohammad Ziadeh, NSWAS chair of the municipal board Mr. Eyas Shbeta, chair of the HAP team, Mr. Daoud Boulos, NSWAS Communications and Development director Ahmad Hijazi and others.

Following the meeting at the municipal building, the party toured the already active clinic. The impression received was that the project had succeeded in its intention to improve basic medical treatment for the local population.

The HAP team is planning similar projects in other areas where medical services do not exist, and will start mapping the West Bank for target populations. For this, HAP will approach embassies of different countries and institutions for support.

Children of War at the Oasis of Peace II

Ranin Boulos — 2007-08-31T22:37:00Z

After the success and the excitement of the Palestinian Summer Camp last year, our friends in Germany, through the Bruno Hussar Fund, kindly and generously agreed to support another camp this year.

Just as last year, the NSWAS Humanitarian Aid Program committee asked me to organize and direct the Camp. This made me happy both because it signaled the success of last year's camp, and because it gave me the opportunity to be involved in providing a week of happy, unforgettable memories for another 45 kids.

This year, the Camp was conducted in partnership with Kofia, a Palestinian NGO in the West Bank town of Tulkarem. Another difference between this and last year's camps was a greater focus on art activities. We provided the children with classes in African drumming, dancing and singing, taught by professional teachers from Tam Tam, a professional ensemble. We also offered theater classes taught by a professionally known actor, Ibrahim Sakala, as well as plastic arts lessons taught by a very well-known artist, Nihad Dabit; and finally, a cinematography course taught by NSWAS member Hezzi Shuster, who teaches media at the NSWAS Primary School.

Such high-quality courses are often lacking in the activities offered by NGOs to Palestinian children. But we felt that these children deserved the best, like children anywhere.

Although we ran a similar summer camp last year, we felt exactly the same excitement this time. In a way, the stress was greater, because we wanted to surpass last year's success. But I am happy and proud to say that we did it again, and even better.

The summer camp started on the 22nd of July and ran until the 30th. Planning the Camp was not easy, and required that I begin to work on it immediately following my return to NSWAS in the Spring (following graduation from the City University of London).

Before the Camp

There were 45 children, aged 10-14, plus two adult women who escorted the children.

Even though I had worked on obtaining entry permits to Israel for the children of last year's camp, the fear of dealing with it again was still with me. I knew there was a real chance that either the children or their escorts would be refused. Legally, children under the age of 16 do not need permits but we prefer to have them to be on the safe side, and the adult escorts, without which it would be impossible to run the camp, definitely need permits. The thing that annoyed me most was the entire process of obtaining the permits, especially since the officials deal with the kids as numbers and not as human beings. They kept saying, “Number so-and-so cannot enter… number so-and-so can enter…” and I would think to myself, “Oh my God… they are referring to kids as numbers… it's horrible.”

The Camp was located mainly on the campus of the NSWAS Primary School. The children slept in classrooms on mattresses with their youth leaders present to provide supervision 24 hours a day during the entire period of the Camp.

A few days before the Camp started, we held a couple of staff meetings, to inform the youth leaders of the exact program, to prepare them, and to answer all their questions.

Arrival day

The children left home at 8 AM and, although the journey from Tulkarem would “normally” take about 45 minutes, they arrived only at 4 PM.

They went through many checkpoints and a lot of questioning and searching. To begin with, two hours were needed just to get the permits that were ready and waiting for them at the first checkpoint in Tulkarem. The kids told me that there were many people waiting to get their permits, so they had to wait for two hours to get theirs.

When the kids arrived, we welcomed them, but they looked tired and scared. We took them to the school, which would be their home for a week, talked to them and helped them to feel more relaxed.

The most amazing thing was that the children who had participated in last year's summer camp had sent letters for us with this year's group! We were amazed and touched to see how these kids still miss us and remember every single moment of the camp.

After introductions, we split the children into groups. Each group had two youth leaders.

And this is when our journey starts…

Art Activities

The children got the chance to participate in several courses:

• African drumming, dancing and singing:

This introduced the children to a different culture and different art. The teachers not only taught them to sing, dance and drum but also gave them a background on where and why this kind of song and dance is practiced in Africa.

• Plastic Arts:

The children worked with various materials and created beautiful things that they presented at the last day of the camp in a very professional exhibition.

• Theater:

This course was the most interesting. The children were asked to pick a topic and to make it into a play. We were amazed to see how talented these children are: They were able to show us their reality, with all its pain, especially what they go through at the checkpoints, using the play they created and the way they acted their roles. Their performance was absolutely breathtaking and we all had tears in our eyes.

• Cinematography:

In this course the children learned how to write a scenario and turn it into a movie. They learned the terminology of filming – “shots”, “zoom in”, “zoom out”, “long shot”, “short shot”. After they wrote the scenario they were divided into actors, directors and camera operators. Finally, their teacher took the material to an editing room and edited their movies for presentation on the last night of the camp… and the results were unbelievable: humorous, vivid, highly entertaining.

• Outdoor activities

Jaffa: At first we went to the Sraya Arabic/Hebrew theater, to see a play. The kids were so excited, especially when the play started and they discovered that one of the actors was their theater teacher at the camp. After the play, a tour guide took us around the old city of Jaffa and explained to the children about its history. Next, there was a boat waiting for us that took the kids sailing for an hour. Then came the part the kids had been dreaming about: swimming in the sea! The look in their eyes when they entered the water said everything.

All things must come to an end, and getting the kids out of the sea was a difficult task. We took them for lunch at the Abu El-Afia restaurant; the kids enjoyed so much the feeling of someone serving them food.

Jerusalem: we took the children to the zoo; they had a few hours to walk around with their youth leaders to explore, see the various animals and feed them. Each child received a map of the zoo and toured according to it. Afterwards, we went to the Old City of Jerusalem. The kids entered the ‘Aqsa mosque, which for them was really exciting. This is the place that they hear about so much.

• Last night of the summer camp:

Sunday July 29 was the last night of the Camp, and a special closing event was arranged at the village auditorium. It was the children's opportunity to present all that they had learned during an intensive week of artistic creation. In the audience were residents of NSWAS and guests from outside. The program began with words of welcome, presentation of the children and their youth leaders, and thanks to all those who had contributed and made the Camp a success. Then the main program began.

The program included:

1) Exhibition of artwork: the children walked around with the guests and showed them their creations in plastic arts, which were displayed on walls and tables all around the auditorium.

2) African drumming performance - the boys sat in a circle, each with a drum, on which they beat out their newly learned African rhythms, while at the same time the girls joined them with an African song and dance that they had studied and practiced during the week.

3) Performance of an Arabic folklore dance that the kids had prepared and worked on by themselves.

4) Presentation of the short movies the children had made in the film making course.

5) Showing of a short movie of the summer camp - filmed by Chloe Goodwin and edited by Hezzi Shuster.

6) Presentation of framed group photos to each child.

The children were amazing: They showed everyone how talented they are and how much they had done in a week. Everyone present was very impressed and touched.

Youth Leaders and Volunteers

Based on the experience of last year, and the fact that this was a larger group, professional youth leaders were required. I wrote to the Baladna organization in Haifa, which provides youth leadership courses for university students. The organization was able to recruit four youth leaders, who were joined by another two from NSWAS.

To make sure that the youth leaders from outside the village would be able to function well, meetings were arranged to get to get acquainted and prepare them for this unique experience. Now, after the camp's impressive success, it is clear that a large factor was the extraordinary work done by the youth leaders.

Let's present these amazing hard-working youth leaders who were so wonderful in working with the children:

1) Khaled Mansour: Nazareth, 22 years old, law student at Tel-Aviv University;

2) Gh'aida Msallam: Eilabun, 22 years old, law student at Tel-Aviv University;

3) Roman Abu Sneieh : Jerusalem, 23 years old, recently graduated with a degree in government strategy and diplomacy;

4) Jack Nasr: Ramallah, 22 years old, business student at Bir Zeit University;

5) Noor Najjar: Wahat al-Salam/ Neve Shalom, 19 years old, recently graduated from high school and heading to her academic studies;

6) Ranin Nasr: Wahat al-Salam/ Neve Shalom, 19 years old, recently graduated from high school and heading to her academic studies;

Volunteers:

Natalie Boulos: 19 years old, from NSWAS. Natalie worked as a youth leader in the summer camp last year. This year she couldn't do that, because of other commitments, but she still came every day to the camp and helped us enormously.

Zsuzsanna Parej: a volunteer, a university student from Hungary who worked alongside us and helped us through the entire period;

Chloe Goodwin: an 18 year-old volunteer from the Unites States; Chloe's part in the summer camp was documenting the camp through the entire period by taking pictures and filming.

In Conclusion

First and most importantly, I want to express my sadness and pain for the suffering and humiliation these children had to go through in order to get to the village. To think that these adolescents aged 10-14 had to sit in the bus for more than 7 hours! The children couldn't go to the bathroom and ran out of water. The Israeli army turned their journey into a nightmare. Soldiers kept on entering the bus at each checkpoint, searching the kids and shouting at them in a vulgar way. While greeting the children and asking them about their journey, one of the children told me: “Your soldiers are scary…” and these words broke my heart. When he said “your soldiers,” he looked at me the way he would look at the soldier who shouted at him. I looked at him and said, “These are not my soldiers - not at all - I am Palestinian just like you.” But I saw in his eyes that he was not convinced; if I am Palestinian like him, so why is my life better than his? These are the kinds of thoughts the children had.

After their week in NSWAS, these children became a big part of our life. We loved them, every single one, and we were loved by them in return. When the bus arrived to take them home, they made us swear to God in front of everyone that we would come and visit them.

This summer camp was more than I expected it to be. All I wanted was to give these children the best of everything. They were thirsty for everything, and most of the things they saw and did here were their first time ever: the swimming pool, the sea, a real theater, the zoo, being at a restaurant, holding a camera… All these were firsts for them, and most importantly, for the first time in their life they felt free and safe.

From the day the children arrived, we gave them the feeling they could trust us - the feeling that we are all the same and we are not here to pity them, because one thing these kids will not tolerate is losing their pride. The thing that broke my heart the most is to see how these children skipped the period of their childhood; it seemed like they were born straight into being adults, with small bodies but the maturity of a grownup. This kind of summer camp should keep on going forever. For us, it is work; but for them, it's the only time in their life when they feel happy and free.

Special thanks:

• Many thanks to the German Friends and supporters of this blessed cause; • Kofia, a Palestinian NGO and our partner organization for this camp;

• To NSWAS departments: Communications & Development Department, the Humanitarian Aid Program Committee, the Hotel, the Dining hall, Auditorium, School, School for Peace and the Pool. All the facilities, food and other accommodation needs were donated by these village departments.

• To Wissam, a long-time friend from Beit Sira, who helped us enormously during the Camp.

Most photos by Chloe Goodwin.

Update on the Humanitarian Aid Program: Help from Japan

2007-02-09T16:50:55Z

The Japanese Government provides funding to equip Three West Bank Clinics

On January 30, 2007, the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Yoshinori Katori, joined us in NSWAS for formal presentation of a grant from the Government of Japan to the HAP project. The grant will enable the purchase of equipment for permanent loan to medical facilities in Na'alin, Budrus and Media,- three West Bank towns lying west of Ramallah and close to the Green Line. These facilities serve about 50,000 people. The villages of Budrus and Media have buildings that were intended to be clinics, but which stand largely idle due to lack of equipment. In Na'alin, the medical facility is defined as a hospital, but is in fact also very poorly equipped. Each of these towns has been the site of medical treatment days and assistance from the HAP team. The Japanese Government grant, however, will guarantee improved health care for these towns over the longterm. We are very grateful to the Embassy for having confidence in the HAP team. We also thank Nava Sonnenschein, Michal Zak and Adnan Manaa and the doctors who helped with research for the project. Our work will not end with the purchase of equipment, since we need to arrange on-site training by local medical staff in the use of the equipment. Sponsorship for the project will continue for a period of up to one year.

On his visit to NSWAS, Ambassador Katori was accompanied by the Embassy's grant director, Ms. Junko Sato. For the occasion, we also arranged a parallel visit by the Palestinian poet Mr. Samih al-Qasim, recipient of the NSWAS Partner in Peace Award, who had been unable to be with us in January for the Award ceremony. Mr. al-Qasim took the opportunity to thank the Japanese government for its generous support, as well as for its contribution to peace in the Middle East.

Further treatment days

Recent activities of the HAP team have included treatment days in the village of Media (the West Bank village mentioned above), in Beit Sira (Ramallah district), and in Jorat al-Shama'a, which is south of Bethlehem. Each of these villages has been the site of previous medical treatment days and, as before, hundreds of villagers received medical examinations by volunteer doctors and, where possible, the administration of medicines brought by the team and provided without payment. Instead of initiating activities as formerly, the team has lately decided that it is more productive to respond to specific requests from the towns. For instance, the treatment day in Jorat al-Shama'a took place in response to a medical emergency in the area: the outbreak of a viral eye disease.

Summer camp for Palestinian children

A long report has already appeared on the Summer Camp for Palestinian children in July, 2006. Following the success of the summer camp, and thanks to support received from the Bruno Hussar Stiftung in Germany, a similar program is planned for the coming summer. If we receive further support, we will gladly expand this program.

Distribution of children's clothing in Nablus

On the Eid-ul Fitr, the HAP team purchased and distributed clothing to more than a hundred children in Nablus. For projects like this, we rely upon specially designated donations rather than regular HAP funds. This activity was supported by friends in the USA.

Treatment of individuals

Treatment of individuals has continued on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes this has taken the form of provision of medicines for those who are suffering from chronic diseases but are unable to pay for their medicines. We have regularly been supplying an individual in Hares Village, near Nablus in this way. At other times, we have responded to appeals for urgent surgery upon children. For the majority of these children, this has involved arranging for treatment in Israeli hospitals. In 2006 we arranged for urgent heart surgery for a baby, Farris Toubassi, a child who was born with a septal defect (a hole in the walls of the heart). The operation, performed at Schneider Children's Medical Center, Petach Tiqva, was successful. However, he died one month later from unrelated causes (“crib death” / SIDS). Another child, Sadil Yousef, who was born with a serious problem in her arms (insufficient bone and a contraction of the muscles there) was taken to a hospital in Bethlehem for surgery. Her parents are poor and were unable to afford the treatment.

The HAP team receives a large number of requests to which it is simply unable to respond. In order to give greater focus to the project, the committee has made a decision in principle to respond mainly to appeals for children, with priority given to cases requiring urgent heart surgery. For this, we are responding mainly to recommendations given us by Dr. Nazih Asli, a cardiologist who is working at Schneider Children's Medical Center and the French St. Vincent de Paul Hospital, Nazareth.

Appeal for support

The HAP program continues as a completely voluntary program in NSWAS, with no one receiving compensation for work, no overhead, and a hundred percent of all funding used for humanitarian purposes. Currently, apart from money that has already been dedicated (such as the Japanese grant), our kitty is almost empty and we need further support in order to respond to the medical emergencies of Palestinian children, running treatment days, and more. We urgently appeal to individuals and foundations alike to help us. In a program of this nature, even small donations can make a difference.

With thanks from the HAP team, Ahmad Hijazi, Shirin Najjar, Dorit Shippin, Abdessalam Najjar, Inas Karyani, Adnan Manaa, Abdallah Hajihia, Abdel Rauf Hijazi (and many others who contribute their time to the project).


Mr. Yoshinori Katori (right|), Ahmad Hijazi (left)


Mr. Yoshinori Katori (right|), Ahmad Hijazi (left)


Mr. Katori with Samih al-Qasim


Sadil Youssef


The Summer Cmmp (2006)


NSWAS young people visiting Palestinian baby in Tel HaShomer Hospital


NSWAS young people with mother and relative.

Children of War at the Oasis of Peace

Deb Reich — 2006-08-14T11:50:12Z

A week of summer fun for refugee camp children from Tulkarm, Jenin and Yaabad

Made possible by the initiative and generosity of the Bruno Hussar Fund, Germany

An interview with Ms. Ranin Boulos, Camp Director By Howard Shippin (interviewing) and Deb Reich (editing) August 1, 2006

Ranin Boulos, 22, daughter of Rita and Daoud Boulos, born and raised at NSWAS and now a student at City University of London, came home two months ago to spend the summer in the village. Ahmad Hijazi, who directs the Humanitarian Aid Project at NSWAS, promptly tapped her to take on a major responsibility: a one-week summer camp for Palestinian children from troubled homes in refugee camps in Tulkarm and environs. Ahmad notes that Aziz, the club director in Tulkarm, confided at the outset that he'd had a hard time persuading parents to send their kids to this camp because they'd heard that Katyusha rockets are falling on Israel and it must be very dangerous here. “I had to laugh,” says Ahmad ironically, “considering that these families live in the Tulkarm refugee camp, not exactly the safest of environments at any time.” Here is the saga of this camp experience as Ranin tells it.

I came home from London for the summer, and Ahmad told me that there's money from the Bruno Hussar Fund… for the village to do something for Palestinian kids. No one else from the village volunteered; he asked me; I said yes.

When you prepare a big dinner, you spend the whole day shopping, cooking, cleaning, setting up the table - all this work and then when the fun part comes and you sit with the people and eat, it all ends so fast. Then you think: I have worked all these hours for ten minutes of eating! –That's how I felt at the end of this summer camp.

I worked on the project for almost two months, fighting to get the entry permits for the kids, insurance, counselors, places to sleep, places to eat, activities, trips... and when it actually started, it went so fast! I still can't believe it's over; I wish it wasn't.

Why kids from the Tulkarm area? Are we working with an organization there?

Ahmad knows someone there, Aziz, who has an organization in Tulkarm to help troubled kids.

They've done summer camps before, but this was the first time inside Israel…. The kids are all from refugee camps, either in Tulkarm or Yaabad or Jenin. They all have difficult and painful backgrounds, socially and economically. Some of their fathers were shaheeds [anyone who died in the Intifada –Ed.]. Some have fathers in prison. Some, their families were shot. Not kids with a normal background.

I felt a bit scared, talking to the army

The kids were supposed to come on Sunday, July 23, but the permits [to enter Israel] weren't given, so we had to delay for a day. We got the permits on Sunday night, so I called Aziz and told him okay, and they came on Monday, July 24.

I felt a bit scared, talking to the army… It was my first time… I had to call the misrad heterim, the (Israeli) army's permit office. I was really nervous. I explained about the camp and what we do. They weren't very encouraging and the feeling I got was that it wasn't going to happen, it can't be done, it's too many kids. I worked on this summer camp for two months and all this time I didn't know it was actually going to happen until the last night. Right up to the end, I was phoning them all the time, almost begging, trying to make them feel sad, trying to get them to feel something about these kids... On the last night they called and told me, Okay, you got the permit. I was so happy… but I thought, Well, I'll believe it when I see the kids actually arrive here.

Actually, because the kids are under 16, they don't really need permits, but they need people to escort them and those people need permits. None of their escorts was given a permit except for one girl. Then her dad died and she couldn't come, so basically they had no escorts at all and we only found out about this at the checkpoint when we went to welcome them! So we told them, Okay, we'll be their escorts.

Sixteen checkpoints

We went to the Anata checkpoint in Jerusalem and waited with a bus from inside Israel. The kids came in their bus, and we transferred them to the Israeli bus... Some of this stuff I didn't know how to deal with, and I was really scared. The kids, aged ten to twelve, left their house at eight in the morning and arrived at Anata checkpoint at two o'clock [about an hour's drive under normal circumstances—Ed.]. The younger kids were really exhausted and maybe frightened, traveling alone without their escorts. I was waiting with four other camp counselors to welcome them at Anata – but, to get there, they had to go through 16 checkpoints. They were searched, even body searched! They're kids!

We came, we saw them, we took them onto the bus... I was very, very nervous... I was thinking, Oh my God, what did I get myself into, this is way more than I can deal with… and I was expecting the kids to be scared and quiet, but they were really warm and sweet. They came and sat by me and gave me a good feeling... I saw they weren't scared anymore and I felt better. The bus drove off and they were really excited; it was the first time they'd been out of their village... on our way we saw one of those double-length buses with the flexible connection in the center and they were all excited about that: Look! Look at this! —All these simple things got them really excited. We arrived at the village [NSWAS] and went to the primary school, where the kids and their counselors slept for the whole week.

We had two classrooms for sleeping, two classrooms for the art activities, one room to serve as the office for the counselors, the use of the bathrooms at the gymnasium, and the use of the gymnasium itself for the kids' sports activities… so basically we built ourselves a very warm and nice camp. All this was ready before the kids arrived. The counselors and I cleaned and prepared everything for their arrival.

Who where the counselors?

Ibrahim Haj Yehia, who attended the NSWAS Primary School as a child and they moved to live here five years ago; he's 19 now. Taj Rizik, who is 17, grew up here. Sama Daoud, now 18, also grew up here, as did Natalie Boulos, my younger sister, who's 18, too. [A list of all the volunteers is appended-Ed.]

Four of you?

We only had four counselors because they were supposed to come with two of their own and when they couldn't get in, I freaked out. I didn't know what to do, or where I'd be able to find counselors at the last minute. Luckily, two guys from the north were staying with us, trying to get away from the war there, so I went home and I said: Hey, you have to help me out here! So they came: one, Issam Daoud, is studying medicine at the Technion in Haifa. He's 24 and about to start his residency and he's a medic; so, actually, his presence was a legal requirement! [Israeli law requires a medic in attendance at kids' programs-Ed.]. The other guy is Imad Abu Shkara, also 24, from Abu Snan; he's studying medicine in Italy.

Lots of people asked me why there were no Jewish counselors at this camp. First, I did ask Noam Shuster (daughter of Ruti and Hezi) and Naomi Mark (daughter of Bob and Michal) but both of them were working and couldn't take a week off. Secondly and most importantly, these kids are all traumatized and anything Hebrew or Jewish terrifies them, because all they know is soldiers. When they thought they saw someone Jewish here, or when they heard Hebrew, they freaked out, demanding to know, Are there JEWS in your village? I explained that the Jews in our village are very different from the ones in uniform in the refugee camp... I brought Noam Shuster and Naomi Mark (after their own workday) to sit with the kids and speak Arabic with them... I introduced them and the kids started to test Naomi, using Arabic that was hard to understand, on purpose. After Naomi told them she's working with Palestinian prisoners [for her alternate national service, with Physicians for Human Rights-Ed.], they accepted her and called her Na'ameh (Arabic for “Naomi”).

Noam came with us on the field trip to Jaffa, and Uri Sonnenschein came every day for two hours to do origami with the kids, and I have to say he was great. Some Jewish and Arab kids from the village got involved, including Yonatan Oron, Mai Shbeta, Tali Sonnenschein, Mona Boulos and Amir Kalak, who also came along as escorts on the field trip to Jerusalem. They also came to the camp to be with the kids in the evenings.... Amir, only a young teen himself, does magic shows, so he came with his magic; Omer Shuster came as a DJ; little kids like Isam, Mahmoud, Rani, Aman, and Muhammad came and invited the camp kids to come play soccer with them. I was hoping for more involvement from the village, but anyway some of the kids did pitch in.

The camp counselors had to be with the kids 24 hours a day for the whole week, so they had to be really fluent in Arabic. Even NSWAS kids who speak Arabic can't all carry on a fluent conversation with these kids in Arabic. That's why I decided that the 24-hour counselors who were functioning in place of the kids' parents would be Arabs, and that other activities would have Jewish involvement.

As the week went on, we could see a real change in the kids, even towards Jews... They would say things like, Hadi yehudiyye, bas yehudiyye mniha... [“That lady is Jewish, but she's a good Jew].

In the pool, and playing soccer, they met Jewish kids from the village. Yonaton Oron, who is 13, doesn't speak Arabic too well so he spoke Hebrew, and they didn't accept it at first. When they saw how sweet he is, they became very attached to him. They tried to teach him Arabic! He took two kids to his house to play. My purpose wasn't to sit with the kids and try to convince them that not all Jewish people are like the soldiers they see every day, or to try to change their minds. All I had to do was to let them live the life of Neve Shalom / Wahat al-salam and it did more than I expected.

How were the days structured? What did they do?

They got up at around eight in the morning and we had breakfast at nine. Breakfast was chocolate and labane sandwiches with hot chocolate; lunch was hotdogs, hummus, vegetables and a cold drink. Dinner was in the dining room at the guest house, a proper dinner. All the food was supplied by the dining room — sandwiches, drinks, fruit, etc...

After breakfast, they went to the pool for two hours – their first time in a swimming pool. Everything here was the first time, for them. None of them knew how to swim. We were in the pool with them, showing them how… by the end of the week, they could paddle around and have fun, even in the deep end.

After that they showered, and they had lunch from one o'clock till two. Then they had art activities with special teachers that Umar Ighbaria from the village helped me to find and bring to work with the kids; they came almost every day and did arts and crafts, drama, music... Dinner was at seven in the dining room and then, from eight to ten, there was an evening activity. We did something different every evening: one night, a party; one time, a night in the woods; one night a soccer game; one night at the pool with music and dancing.

Their very own circus...

On Tuesday, the Arab-Jewish Youth Circus came to our camp. And for that great day I would like to thank Hatem Matar, the manager of the NSWAS hotel [The White Dove Guest House-Ed.], who arranged for the circus to come on a volunteer basis. They did a show, with tumbling and acrobatics, for an hour; it was really nice. Then they worked with the kids, taught them things, how to use the equipment: hoops, tumbling on mats, juggling balls... It was special. Afterwards, the kids were still playing with these things. And they had the soccer balls we bought them… and art supplies... scissors and paints and big sheets to draw on, we got them whatever they needed for every activity.

Take me to my real home

On Thursday, we took them on a trip to Jaffa, to the Arab-Hebrew Theatre. They saw a play in Arabic, Laila wal ghruyum (“night and clouds”). Afterwards they had an activity with puppets, with people from the theater as volunteers. They made puppets to take home.

Then they went to tour Old Jaffa with a special tour guide. We explained to them about all the places they saw. We were amazed to see how much they knew about the history of the country. They kept finishing the guide's sentences for him. He said he'd never had a group like that. All these kids are from a refugee camp, so they're all “from here” — some were from Jaffa families; some knew exactly where their grandfather's house was... and they wanted to go there, and see: Oh please take me to Taibe, please take me to Beersheba, to Jerusalem, to Ramle....

In Jaffa after the tour, we took them sailing. We were so scared they would fall overboard! They were so excited, leaning over to see the water, the beach, and we were yelling, No, no!

I took them into the captain's room to steer the boat.

Waiter! Waiter!

Then we went to a restaurant – Abu Al-Afia in Jaffa, for lunch. They'd never been in a restaurant and they really got into ordering! We noticed and started laughing. I had to explain to the waitresses so they wouldn't get mad. It was another “first time,” so they kept doing it, waving their arms: Bring us this! Bring us that! It was so sweet and sad at the same time.

Then we went to the beach. They were so excited... We were terrified because they can't really swim and the sea is scary. All the counselors went in the water and stood in a circle facing the shore, arms linked, and forbid them to go past us. They swam and they collected shells... Each kid had a water bottle – imagine this! They emptied the drinking water and filled the bottles with sea water; closed the bottles, wrote their names, and took them home to show their parents. [Tulkarm is half an hour's drive from the Mediterranean in normal circumstances.-Ed.]

After the beach, we went back to camp. The counselors were exhausted, but the kids were full of energy. They were never tired – never tired! I've never seen kids like that before. They went to play soccer, then some music, then a party, and we said Okay, that's it, we're collapsing, everyone to bed.

A trip to the zoo

On Saturday, they went to the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem. They saw many animals for the first time in their lives, and it's a petting zoo, so they could touch them. We had maps of the zoo and each group took a different route. We picnicked on the grass... then we took them to the Old City of Jerusalem, something they've dreamed about their whole lives. They wanted to see the Al Aqsa Mosque and I said no. I was scared - I didn't know what the situation might be, if there'd be a lot of people or not. They begged me, until I finally said, You know what? We're going! It was a Saturday, and luckily it was empty. We got them in; we took pictures there. Then as soon as they had gotten into Al Aqsa and looked around a second, they were like, Okay, yeah, now we want to go to the market. They're kids! So we took them to the market and got them stuff from there, and then went back to camp... Those were the two days they got out of NSWAS.

What was the best part... for you?

Oh, to be honest… every day! Everything that happened, I was like, Oh my God, and then something ELSE happened and it was the same, Oh my God, again! It wasn't normal! I will never, ever forget. I didn't think it would have this much of an impact on me. We got really, really attached to these kids. The last day was the saddest day in my life, honestly, I'm not exaggerating. The kids were really, really crying... and we started crying, too. Ibrahim and Issam are big guys, and they were standing there crying, too. The kids didn't want to leave, some refused to get on the bus. One ran away, we had to go and find him and drag him onto the bus. I felt cruel. I hated myself. To give them this amazing week and then, Okay, this is what you don't have, now go back to your reality.

They called us yesterday the minute they arrived... and today... whoever has a phone, they call us... We call them right back since they have no money or credit to talk. They are still very sad. All the counselors and myself are going to visit them next week, we're going to buy them some stuff for school... school bags and supplies... we promised them and we're going to do it.

Always in our hearts

The last evening, Sunday, we invited people from the village to an art exhibit of the kids' work: origami, clay figurines, paintings, constructions with Styrofoam and theatrical plays. They had studied some theater during the camp, so each group presented a play. They weren't divided by age, but randomly, with boys and girls in each group, and two counselors for each group. The groups had names chosen by the kids themselves: Al Amal (Hope), whose counselors were ‘Brahim and Issam; Al-Sukour (the Eagles – “because they can fly and they're free”), whose counselors were Sama and Emad; and Al-Nujum (the Stars – “because they're beautiful, and free, and safe”), with Natalie and Taj.

After the exhibit and the performances, we gave them presents. We'd made them tee shirts that said, Wahat as-Salam Summer Camp 2006, and hats which they got on the first day of the camp. The last night, on Sunday, at the party, we gave them pictures – three pictures for each kid: a group picture; one of their group leader; and a personal picture for the kid, with a nice frame. The frames were provided by Dyana and Rayek Rizik.

I'd made them another surprise: a video clip, not that I'm very good at it. People from the village where invited to this evening, some of them came, and some kids from the village were there as well. The video clip had all the photos and videos we filmed during the week. Opening title: Summer Camp 2006...Arabic music…

Like what?

“Atabtab wadulla” — a song they loved and kept dancing to, and singing, all week. It's a love song by Nancy Arjam. The video clip ended with the final number from the movie “Dirty Dancing,” that says: “I've had the time of my life… and I never felt this way before…” The closing title said: Always in our hearts.

After the video clip, they started crying... We had to sit with them and talk to them: Hey, you're going back to your families... They were like, No, no, no, we have nothing there, we're happier here than there... That was hard to watch. Even when I took them to the office one day to call their parents, the parents miss them, but the kids were like, Nah, it's better here.

Someone said, They have spent a week in paradise and now they're going back to hell, and it's true.

On Thursday, one counselor from Tulkarm showed up here, with a permit; his name is Ali. The parents sent him because they wanted at least one person from there keeping an eye on their kids! This guy on Sunday evening at our last party looked at us and said: Your job is over, now it's our turn, we have to help them adjust to the reality they're going back to again. - It makes me feel very sad, and very empty...

Poems with perfume

Today when we went to clean the place, we kept finding things in the mess: stuff they made, stuff they forgot. We couldn't bear to throw any of it away; we kept it all.

Their last night, they wrote us letters. They write in an amazing way, their Arabic is beautiful. They wrote us poems, really beautiful words. To perfume the letters, they used the air deodorizer spray from the bathroom. Natalie wrote a poem for the kids in her group, one sentence for each child... We cried when we read it. We were hyper-sensitive all week; we cried about everything.

The kids felt really secure and trusted us. We worked hard from the start to gain their trust and we really succeeded. But the things they told us about, really broke my heart, the things they've been through with their families, all this violence... There were things we didn't know how to deal with – violence in the home, in the family... how the army treats them in the refugee camp... Their families are poor and have no money for anything... Everyone lives in the same room, even couples, right there with the children... their fathers, they're scared of them... They don't get hugs, or warmth. We gave them that and at first they couldn't accept it, but they got used to it, we kept hugging them and kissing them.... they came to us... They told us things I don't think they are allowed to talk about there, things I won't repeat here.

Is it fair to bring them here and then send them back?

I thought about it for a long time... and in the end I decided that it's better than not experiencing anything in your life. Now they at least have memories. Now, they have hope. They came here and saw that there are different people… they even started learning a few words in Hebrew. They loved our village, and the impact of the village on these kids was very clear. Now they realize that things can be different. When they grow up, they will realize... They have memories, and pictures... We want to keep in contact with them.

Do they understand about being a Palestinian in Israel?

I thought they wouldn't - I thought they would look at us and wonder how come we are the same, with the same language, and still we live here and they live there; but they do understand, even more than I thought they would. They have some relatives here. They are refugees. They even explained it to me... about the ‘48 war, and how the Jews came, and the Arabs were forced to leave their homes, some left and some didn't, and the ones who didn't, are under the authority of the Israeli government, and the ones who left are in refugee camps! They understood... But they wanted to stay here. They didn't care if it belongs to Israel or to Jews. They were happy here. They said: “We can call our parents from here...”

What would you do differently, if you had it to do over again?

To be honest: nothing. I'm very satisfied and I'm proud. I think it was a really big success for everyone involved. I'm proud of my work, and of the counselors who worked with me. They were amazing! Even professionals wouldn't have been able to do the kind of work they did with the kids. I have never seen people as tolerant and understanding as Sama, Natalie, Taj, ‘Brahim, Issam and Emad. On the last day, the kids hung on to us, they didn't want to let go, didn't want to leave. It broke our hearts! We stood there watching them waving to us from the bus with tears in our eyes. After they drove away, we went into the counselors' room and we sat there quietly. No one said anything; we just sat there and stared into space.

The NSWAS community salutes all the village's volunteers who helped make the camp such a success:

Director: Ranin Boulos

Counselors, full time:
Ibrahim Haj Yehia
Taj Rizik
Sama Daoud
Natalie Boulos
Issam Daoud
Imad Abu Shkara

And all the other volunteers:
Uri Sonnenschein, the origami expert
Noam Shuster
Naomi Mark
Yonatan Oron
Mai Shbeta
Tali Sonnenschein
Amir Kalak, the young magician
Omer Shuster, the young DJv Isam, Mahmoud, Rani, Aman and Muhammad: The soccer kids

Special thanks to: The NSWAS Primary School, especially: Faiez, Leah, and Anwar, for letting us use the school's classrooms and the gymnasium.

The White Dove Guest House at NSWAS, especially Hatem Matar for agreeing to every request I made of him.

Ofer Zohar, for letting us use the pool for swimming and for the party we had on Friday.

Umar Ighbariya, for finding us the art teachers. At the NSWAS Communications & Development office:

Rita Boulous (a very special thanks) for helping me all the way through, and for letting us use the gymnasium for free,

Ahmad Hijazi, for offering to let me do the summer camp and for being there all the way,

Howard Shippin, for taking pictures and helping us set up our video clip on the last evening, and

Salim Layos, for the generous use of the dining room. … and the German Friends of NSWAS, who had the idea, and who gave it their support.

A second medical treatment day in Jorat al-Shama'a village

2005-10-02T05:00:00Z

On Saturday, October 1, the HAP team visited the West Bank village of Jorat al-Shama'a for a second treatment day there (see earlier report). Our team consisted of four physicians, a pharmacist, and three assistants. During three hours, some 150 patients were treated. Among the patients were children with seasonal ailments, a number of adults with chronic internal diseases and diabetes patients who do not receive regular treatment for economic reasons and the remoteness of the village from urban medical facilities.

We took with us medicines worth about 25,000 Shekels, of which we distributed about 8,000 Shekels' worth. Prominent among the distributed medicines were treatments for diabetes, skin diseases and pain killers.

Unlike on our previous visit, we were able to conduct the treatment day in the village clinic, which has been repainted and put in order by the villagers. We repeated our promise that if the villagers are able to find a doctor (employed by the Palestinian Authority or privately) who will come at least twice a week, we will assist by equipping the clinic with all the necessary medical equipment. The long-term cost of paying a private doctor would be too high for our own limited resources.


HAP team members Inas Karyani (L)and Adnan Mana'a with Jorat al-Shama'a residents


Dr. Nasser Srour with patient


Dr. Ayelet Zerem with patients


Dr. Nader Abdel-Rahman with patient

Treatment Day in Beit Sira village

2005-07-26T11:13:37Z

Saturday, July 10: The HAP team organized a treatment day for the nearby Palestinian village of Beit Sira (Ramallah district). Over five hours, a team of four volunteer doctors and a pharmacist treated some 300 patients with a variety of ailments and distributed medicines valued at NIS 15,000.

The day was organized at the request of Bet Sira's action committee. The physicians and pharmacist, some from NSWAS, and others called upon by the HAP team, specialized in internal medicine, pediatrics and orthopedic medicine. The ailments encountered were typical to a less affluent population group which suffers from insufficient medical treatment. These included diabetes, hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis. Many of these disorders had been previously diagnosed, but the patients are unable to keep up their medications due to their impoverished condition. Some simply came with the hope of receiving free medicines. Among the patients were also many children with childhood ailments.

Beit Sira, which is a mere 15 minute drive from NSWAS, seems as if it exists in another world – which, in socio-economic terms is true. The transition is between first world to third world conditions. A village or small town of 5,000 people, it saddles the Green Line on the Palestinian side. Due to Beit Sira's proximity to Israel proper, and the loss of most of its agricultural land to Israeli settlements and the separation barrier that is now being built, many of Beit Sira's residents have grown to be especially dependent on the Israeli labour market. Unfortunately, Israel has been largely closed to Palestinians from the outbreak of the 2nd Intifada, with a result that a large percentage of the population is unemployed. In recent months, an action committee has been founded in the village to try to provide services to the residents, and it was this committee that approached NSWAS.

The village has a small clinic (which hosted the treatment day). A general practitioner, employed by the Palestinian Authority, works there twice a week. There is also a small dispensary, with a mediocre supply of medicines. The physician and pharmacist fully cooperated in the treatment day – voluntarily, since a doctor's strike was in effect on the same day. Knowing the patients and their individual complaints, the doctor was able to help in the distribution of medicines. Sometimes alternative ones had to be administered, since the HAP mobile pharmacy does not have every possible medicine in stock.

After the treatment day, the medical team and assistants from NSWAS were treated by Beit Sira residents (the Subati family) to a well-earned meal, where the results of the day were evaluated and thoughts for the future considered. The HAP team aims to continue with treatment days in Palestinian villages on a regular basis, depending on various factors such as the ability to organize volunteer physicians. In the works are certain other projects. We plan to equip a clinic in Jurat al-Shama (see story). Regarding this, we are awaiting the village to comply with certain preliminary conditions. We also plan to continue to support individual where the economic resources or cooperation with Israeli medical establishments can be obtained.

The HAP committee remains the initiative of a small team of volunteers. In 2000, when the second Intifada broke out, it tried to play a small part in the relief of the medical emergency then created. Unfortunately, almost five years later, the medical situation in Palestinian villages remains very serious. Therefore the committee will continue in its current format, maintaining its efforts that extend good will and modest assistance from one side of the Green Line to the other.

Medical treatment day in Jorat al-Shama'a Village

2005-01-30T06:00:00Z

On Saturday, January 30, the HAP team traveled to the village of Jorat al-Shama'a, south of Bethlehem, for a medical treatment day. A team of four physicians, two paramedics, two pharmacists and four assistants took part in the initiative. They joined another group of doctors from Physicians for Human Rights, whose visit was coordinated by Palestine Medical Relief. In this village that lacks the most basic amenities for medical treatment, or easy access to city medical facilities, there was plenty of work for everyone. Over four hours, some 500 people received treatment. Among the physicians there were specialists in internal medicine, neurology, cardiology, orthopedics, pediatrics, gynecology, and opthalmology, and both organizations brought medicines for free distribution. The team from NSWAS alone distributed medicines and first aid kits with a value of NIS 30,000 (€5,250).

The HAP team was alerted to the needs of this village by a Jewish parent. Schauli Yossefon, at the NSWAS Primary School. He had maintained a long connection with people there, despite the conflict, and had many times helped the villagers in medical emergencies . After a preliminary visit to the village by representatives of the HAP committee, Ahmad Hijazi and Abdalla Haj-Yihia, joined Schauli there and set a date for the treatment day.

Jorat as-Shama'a stands among seven adjacent villages between Behlehem and Hebron. Altogether, there are about 5,000 inhabitants in these villages, with 2,000 in Jorat al-Shama'a itself. The village is not on any main road and is hard to get to. This, together with the ongoing conflict, explains why about 80% of the inhabitants are unemployed. The empty shelves in the village shops testify to the economic hardship present. People eke out a subsistence by working the well-known stone from nearby quarries, and growing a few vegetables to feed their families.

The cold months of winter bring seasonal illnesses, so many parents came with sickly children. But it quickly became evident that many more serious diseases had long gone untreated in the village. In order to see a doctor for conditions like arthritis, rheumatism, diabetes or heart conditions, the sick or the old must travel over poor roads to Bethlehem - but who can afford such treatment? Many of the medicines used by the villagers proved, on inspection by our doctors, to be long expired and probably useless.

As the hours wore on, with more and more people pouring into the clinic, it proved difficult even for the large number of doctors on hand to treat everyone adequately. Clearly, a one-time consultation and handout of medicines could not provide a panacea for the population of this impoverished and remote village. Even proper diagnosis of medical conditions is out of the question without the ability to laboratory tests, maintain medical files, etc.

The Occupation and the continuing conflict mean that these villagers will not emerge from their poverty in their near future, and it is obvious that something of lasting medical value must be done for them. Besides medicines, we had brought along with us first aid kits, with items like thermometers and pain relievers, with which mothers could identify and reduce a child's fever. However, at the end of the treatment day, during the delicious meal put on by the mukhtar (head man) of the village and his neighbours, we talked about more significant possibilities for support. There is a large, empty building in the village, which could easily serve as a clinic, but stands in poor repair and lacks equipment. With the mukhtar, we discussed the possibility of using the building as a clinic. We told him that if the village would take on the job of repainting and cleaning the building, and they would obtain a commitment from the Palestinian Authority to sponsor regular visits by a physician, we would provide the basic medical equipment. So, hopefully, this will not be our last report about Jorat al-Shama'a village.


Jorat al-Shama'a


Village street


Schauli with village elders


Women and children arriving to treatment day


Community Ctr where treatment day held


Patients awaiting treatment


Ditto


Ditto


Village women and children


Dr. Haj-Yihia with patient


PMR staff member with patients


The meal following the treatment day


The new clinic?

Photos: Ahmad Hijazi, Daoud Boulos, Dorit Shippin