In This Issue:

What is Karama up to: Have a look at Karama's forthcoming projects.

News Section: Get the latest on all things Palestine.

Karama Profiles: Meet some of our members and volunteers.

Frontpage: return to the newsletter frontpage

Volunteer Profile Quentin


One of our longest tenured volunteers comes from a quiet fishing town.... read more

Welcome to the Expanded Karama Newsletter

It is a New Year! Karama welcomes 2010 with big news and big plans.

2010 State of Karama Address

Karama greets 2010 after a 2009 that saw Karama move and grow into new facilities and programs. In particular, the volunteer program saw over 50 motivated persons from all over the world come and share their time and passion. If our 2010 volunteers live up to the legacy of 2009, Karama will be in good shape. The summer was a great success and saw us host more kids than ever before in our camps. The trips with the children to Jericho to swim, play and ride camels created real lasting memories for everone involved.

2009 was not without it's challenges, as our relocation to our new facility has been fraught with failed support and substantial debt. Karama begins 2010 with this crisis still looming, and our efforts to secure funding to be able to complete our building's purchase are still desperate and ongoing. Nothing is ever easy here in Palestine, and certaintly less easy in the refugee camps, so Karama remains determined and optimistic that is can weather far greater storms than this.

At the close of the year, just 2 days before Christmas, Karama was awarded funding from the Norwegian People's Aid for their Remedial Class project. It is the biggest grant Karama has yet received, and the momentum it brings promises to start 2010 off right. Karama wants to thank everyone who has helped to make us a success over the last 7 years, and we are excited about what we can do in 2010 with their continued support and that of the new friends and supporters we continue to make every day.



Remedial Classes and Social Work Project - sponsored by the Norwegian People's Aid

In partnership with the Norwegian People's Aid, Karama has begun it's most ambitious education program to date. After a January spent in preparation and negotiations with local education officials, Karama is now operating remedial classes for over 432 illiterate and failing students from 8 schools in Deheishe, Doha, Aida, and Al Aruob. Classes are held within the student's own schools during the week, and on Saturdays they are treated to educational games and activities in conjunction with classes. 32 local teachers are being employed for this project in order to keep class sizes manageable, compared with the 40-50 students per teacher that is the current norm.

Getting the project off the ground required almost super-human effort from our project manager, Luay. He met and negotiated with educational officials from UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority, all in order to get everyone on board with the goals and vision of the project. After that, he still needed to meet with all the parents of the 432 targeted students, in order to explain the project's goals and vision to them as well.





In addition to remedial classes, the equally important component is the work of the project's five social workers. Each school has, at best, one social worker to look after all the students, and it's impossible for one supremely dedicated person to be able to do much for 500-1500 students (depending on school size). In addition, they are not permitted to met with students or their families outside of the school. Many of the students who are participating in our program are suffering from many problems, both personally, socially, and in their homes. Our social workers are better able to investigate each student in a way that has never been done before for these children, and find out why the school systems are failing them. Sometimes, it has been a simple as realizing that a child needs corrected glasses, and his or her family can't afford glasses for them. In these particular cases, we were able to negotiate with local suppliers and find an affordable solution. In other cases, the problems are not so simple and may take the full duration of the program or longer to resolve.





That is the next step for the rest of Karama's volunteer staff and supporters around the world. We need to be able to insure that this project is able to continue over the summer and next year. We would like to consider adding the 3rd grade to the already participating 4, 5 and 6th grades, as well as more social workers. After only a month, the individual successes we have already seen take place are dramatic and reaffirm our belief in the monumental potential of the program. Insha Allah, Karama will soon be able to save every local refugee child from illiteracy and the tragedy of incomplete education, and the Remedial Classes program is a determined step in that direction.







Karama Lecture Tour through Europe

From January 9th until Feruary 28th, representatives from Karama have been on tour in Europe meeting with local community, education and political officials. The following is the first in a series of chapters from their travelogue:

Our odyssey began on January 8th, when Karama director, Yasser, left for Amman, Jordan. Because of the extensive security checks that Palestinians are subject to, he left home more than a full day before his scheduled flight. Without too much hassle, he arrived in plenty of time to spend several hours, bored at Queen Alia International Airport. By that evening, he was in Frankfurt as a guest with the family of our former volunteer, Sonja (see our September 9th 2009 newsletter for more on her). The next day was spent resting and finalizing arrangements to purchase a used car to take our Karama representatives around wintry Europe for the next couple months.

            The second member our European delegation was Michael, a long-term volunteer from the United States. His journey began on the 11th, where he enjoyed the fully hospitality of Israeli airport security. After a few exciting hours of waiting, questioning, emptying his luggage, removing all electronic devices and repacking them in cardboard boxes, being swabbed for bomb residue repeatedly and patted-down, he was escorted to his gate like a V.I.P. He even was given a special row to himself on the plane, with a special observer added to his flight at the last moment, to observe him (should he need any assistance that the stewardesses would not be able to handle). To say that the experience made it difficult for Michael to leave Palestine is an understatement.

            Reunited in Frankfurt with Yasser, Michael spent the next morning with Sonja and her father insuring, registering and licensing the car. While not quite the clock-like model of efficiency that he had grown up expecting from German bureaucracy, they at least had a nice cafe in the vehicle registration building. Several hundred euros later, our duo set off to reach their first appointment that evening in Oldenburg, Germany. Karama was to be guests at an important evening engagement for members of UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe. Some months earlier, a gentleman from a group of German tourists visiting Deheishe identified himself as a board member of UNO-Flüchtlingshilfe, and explained that it was an organization which donated exclusively to refugee education projects. This Dr. Reinhold Friedl went on to say that the organization had supported UNRWA in the past, but had received no applications for funds in some years and considered Karama a very worthy candidate to receive the funds that were otherwise spent elsewhere. Upon learning that we were coming to Europe, he had invited us to meet with the president and several other board members of the organization at a New Years celebration. Additionally, Dr. Friedl put us in touch with one Fabian Ghane, a student at his University of Oldenburg. Mr. Ghane arranged for us to speak the following night at a gathering of Lutheran students, and to stay in their guest facility while in Oldenburg.

All this awaited us just a short 5 hour drive to the north. Unfortunately, our 1994 Chrysler Saratoga only managed to get us 60km to the north, approximately. Am unexpected transmission problem prevented the car from shifting higher than 2nd gear, and even at moderate speeds, the German Autobahn proved far too much for our weary sedan to manage. With a sudden shudder, loud noise and plenty of smoke, our vehicle gave up the ghost as we acquainted ourselves with the shoulder of the road.

Thankfully we had just purchased ADAC insurance, and with it came emergency road-side assistance. After a little more than two hours spent waiting (in the car in Yasser's case and on the side of the road some distances away, as good safety precaution dictates, in Michaels case), assistance came to our road-side. The heavy snow and -8 °C made the cab of the tow-truck seem almost heavenly. Off to the nearest ADAC service center, we went.

Our reception there quickly took a turn for the worse. Despite having purchased insurance that very morning, coverage did not take effect until midnight. Thus, towing the car, inspecting the car, and ultimately fixing or destroying the car were not covered services. A day with an expensive start, had an equally expensive ending. For those interested, Yasser and Michael ended up personally spending an average of 20 euros per kilometer (in an attempt to save money).





Check back next issue for more of Karama's adventures in Europe...



Winter Camp

In spite of some epic rain-storms, Karama hosted a successful Winter Camp for students on break. Volunteers organized games, prizes and entertainment, designed to help the children relax after the stress of two weeks of testing. The weather put a slight damper on the festivities, but many still turned out through the Winter Break and made use of our indoor facilities. Before the rain, it had been unseasonably warm and we were able to test out some of the new activities we plan to use in our summer camps.



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