Karama.org

Childrens Project

Since we opened our door to the children of Deheishe, we have been working hard to make camp life more fun and provide a space where children can just be children, play and learn with each other and from each other. We run both regular lessons and workshops, as well as time-limited projects, depending on demand and resources.

Regular workshops and activities

Creative workshops

Karama children love to express themselves and make handicrafts. Our local and international volunteers run regular workshops in which children learn new skills and discover their creativity.

The children get to dive into the world of paper, glitter, gems and colour. They get a feeling of how to work with their hands. They learn how to work by themselves and with others and thus enhance their social skills.
Examples of creative workshops include:

Matchbox design: The idea is to work together with the children to make and decorate small match boxes. In the boxes we have put flower seeds typical for the region and we sold the boxes to friends of Karama with the help of Swedish volunteer Freida Larson.
Jewellery making: The children learnt how to work with beads, thread and needle, and made their own necklaces and bracelets
Drawing workshop: Children regularly do drawing classes which is especially loved by the younger children. They learn different techniques such as making stamps or working with glitter glue and draw on different topics
Papermache
Cutting and pasting different paper shapes

Computer courses

Karama helps children to learn basic and advanced computer skills:

We offer elementary courses for boys and girls
All children have access to free internet at the centre

English language

Karama educational projects stress English to establish and develop the pupils' skills. Our international volunteers give English lessons several days a week. This encourages the children to improve their abilities with the volunteer’s assistance, and they have the chance to practice their skills with a native speaker. The courses cover vocabulary, grammar, listening and reading practices and are designed to learn the language in a playful and fun way. The courses run from basic level to advanced and are offered for women as well.

Dabka workshop

A group of our Karama - Kids has formed to learn and practice the traditional Arabic Dabka dance. Several times a week both boys and girls meet in the centre to be taught and lead by one boy out of the group. While they practice many of the other Karama children watch them, impressed by the dancing and enjoying listening to the Arabic music.

Theatre workshop

The Karama kids love our theatre workshops. Led by our local and international volunteers, the children discover new possibilities to express themselves and how to create scenes and pictures. Their abstract and creative thinking are a key part of the lessons as well as their ability to improvise.

Frequently the plays are written by the children themselves, allowing them to handle and find solutions to their real-life problems as well as escape into fantasy worlds.

Exhibition Project

Karama runs a cultural project that aims to describe the camp from our children's point of view. We regularly invite small groups of our children to show what is important in their lives via photos, drawings and paintings, which are later displayed in an exhibition. The cultural project aims to teach others about the experiences, thoughts and feelings of Palestinian refugee children. It is a creative way to stimulate children and help them to express their history and present time. See some of the pictures here.

Infant's Afternoon

Older Karama kids regularly organize an "Infant's Afternoon". Every Friday they invite little children in the age of four to six years to our centre where both youth and infants play, sing, dance and paint. For that purpose Karama has bought some simple toys like blocks, toy cars and coloured pens which present something special for the majority of Deheishe's children because Karama's "Infant's Afternoon" is the only occasion to play with those things.

Moreover the Karama youth think about special activities that can bring joy to their little guests. They have thought out dances, drawn cartoons and given little lessons, where infants have learned Arabic and English numbers for the first time.

children2 .... children3 .... children1

Excursions

One of the worst effects of the occupation is that the Palestinian's freedom of movement is restricted severely. Karama regularly organizes trips, whenever circumstances permits, to the greater surroundings of the camp in order to familiarize them with the country they live in as well as to meet their need for movement. Trips in the past included excursions to the swimming pools in Jericho, Artass, Solomon's Pools and other places around the country.

Assistance lesson for students of the University

In Deheishe many young people study at the Open University in Bethlehem. Some of them go to work at the same time to earn money for their families. This is why some students cannot join the open lectures regularly. In the evening after work, they try to catch up on the subjects which often prove to be difficult without the help of others.

Our older Karama volunteers help each other with their respective subjects. For example, Wa'el gives Mathematics lessons for boys and girls and also offers lessons in Analysis and Mathematical management for the students. In a period of several months he prepared two groups of young men for their final examinations with lessons three to four times a week.

Exchange Projects

Karama has been running an exchange programme with a Swedish school in the city of Gothenburg. Children wrote letters and E-mails on a regular basis and sent each other small things such as sweets. As soon as we got the necessary funds, children from Deheishe will be able to visit their friends in Sweden and vice versa.

Karama invites and welcomes also other organizations, schools and volunteers to become involved in exchange projects. We want the Palestinian children and women at Karama to discover and learn more about people in different countries and we also want to share our life experiences and the rich Palestinian culture with others. The project has a political aspect as well. By discussing issues with people from different countries we hope to raise political awareness about the hardships Palestinians face on a daily basis and about international questions in general.

Past projects

Education and leadership program for Karama children

In Deheishe refugee camp the possibilities and opportunities are mostly intended for the children who are doing well in school and get high grades. This means that the students with lower grades have fewer or no chances to take part in activities. This is why Karama decided to make a project for these students.

One part of the programme was, together with the local school teachers, to identify students with the lowest grades. During a period of two years Karama offered lessons to assist them with their studies, this helped the students to receive higher grades. One of the greatest outcomes was that some of the students obtained the highest grades in the classroom.

Another stage of the programme was to assist 15 children in attending school. There are many reasons for the children not to attend school, an example of this was one child had to quit school in order to earn money for his family due to his father being imprisoned. Karama helped these children to go to school by paying them a monthly salary to learn instead of working in the streets. In the year 2005, 6 of these children took the high school exams. We wish them the best of luck!

The third stage of the programme was aimed at both boys and girls with social or academic issues. Some of the youth are affected by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, others come from uneducated or illiterate families, and a few lost one or both of their parents. These circumstances can lead them to abrasive and violent behaviour in school; this makes instruction difficult for the teachers and disrupts other students.
In cooperation with one school Karama chose the most aggressive teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 years. The school warned Karama saying that it would be impossible to work with these teenagers, but Karama took the challenge and arranged a programme. The programme was arranged by two social workers who made eight workshops in one month. They held lectures about leadership, how to trust others and let others trust you. The teenagers were trained to lead workshops with small children. At the end they made a big festival which was led by the teenagers with help from the social workers. They made activities and games for around 180 small children. After the workshops and the festival the social workers kept in touch with the teenagers and held one meeting each week. At school the teachers became very satisfied with the behaviour of these previously noisy and violent teenagers. The same programme was completed in the girls' school and had even better results!

The right to play smallpeople

This programme was held in two different kindergartens. At the first one 60 children participated and two social workers from Karama were in charge. The children were all around the age of five and came from families who were struggling financially. They were offered a chance to have fun and participate in activities and games. Karama arranged performances with clowns, the children made their own hats and there was also live music. It was a day with fun activities for the small children of Deheishe. At the end Karama gave prizes to all the children and offered them food for their families.

Another day involved 236 children from kindergarten. Karama hired a special group that performed for kids with clowns. The children had fun expressing themselves through drawing and painting. They were also given the chance to sing and the day was packed with games and competitions.

Direction and Advice

The workshops address the changes in the life of adolescents and raises awareness in families about the various problems that can arise. Since January 2006 Karama has run Teenage Stage Workshops. It is a workshop that is held by psychologist Sharly Zidan. This workshop helps teenagers and adults to meet twice a month to be able to discuss the many changes that affect them mentally, socially and emotionally during this period of their life. After having discussions about various topics concerning these issues, they were divided into small groups. Each group discussed the issues that were most urgent in that specific group. Then each person, individually, wrote about the thoughts and issues they felt needed to be dealt with or discussed more. This gave each person the opportunity to reflect on a deeper level of how they function and how to express their feelings in words. The aim was to work on communication and to build understanding and respect for the feelings and integrity of the adolescents as well as adults.

Wall-Painting project

Karama arranged in cooperation with the Christian Organisation Dar Annadwa for six Karama boys to participate in a Wall-painting project, organised by Al Quds - University. In October 2004 the boys painted, together with international artists and volunteers parts of the Separation Wall that surrounds the West Bank and even divides regions of the Palestinian occupied territories.

wallpic1

The project gave the boys a chance to express their feelings, and especially their feelings about the wall which stands as a reminder of their situation. Within just a few days many different pictures and messages were created which were addressed, not only to the Palestinians, but also to the international community to raise awareness for the Palestinian daily suffering.

Karama children live on SH-TV

On in July 2005 and again in 2008 our children went live on TV. The local Palestinian SH-TV made a two hour live broadcast about Karama children. The children talked about the organization and sang songs in front of the camera.


Childrens Project Since we opened our door to the children of Deheishe, we have been working hard to make camp life more fun and provide a space where children can just be children, play and learn with each other and from each other. We run both regular lessons and workshops, as well as time-limited projects, depending on demand and resources. Regular workshops and activities Creative workshops Karama children love to express themselves and make handicrafts. Our local and international volunteers run regular workshops in which children learn new skills and discover their creativity. The children get to dive into the world of paper, glitter, gems and colour. They get a feeling of how to work with their hands. They learn how to work by themselves and with others and thus enhance their social skills. Examples of creative workshops include: Matchbox design: The idea is to work together with the children to make and decorate small match boxes. In the boxes we have put flower seeds typical for the region and we sold the boxes to friends of Karama with the help of Swedish volunteer Freida Larson. Jewellery making: The children learnt how to work with beads, thread and needle, and made their own necklaces and bracelets Drawing workshop: Children regularly do drawing classes which is especially loved by the younger children. They learn different techniques such as making stamps or working with glitter glue and draw on different topics Papermache Cutting and pasting different paper shapes Computer courses Karama helps children to learn basic and advanced computer skills: We offer elementary courses for boys and girls All children have access to free internet at the centre English language Karama educational projects stress English to establish and develop the pupils' skills. Our international volunteers give English lessons several days a week. This encourages the children to improve their abilities with the volunteer’s assistance, and they have the chance to practice their skills with a native speaker. The courses cover vocabulary, grammar, listening and reading practices and are designed to learn the language in a playful and fun way. The courses run from basic level to advanced and are offered for women as well. Dabka workshop A group of our Karama - Kids has formed to learn and practice the traditional Arabic Dabka dance. Several times a week both boys and girls meet in the centre to be taught and lead by one boy out of the group. While they practice many of the other Karama children watch them, impressed by the dancing and enjoying listening to the Arabic music. Theatre workshop The Karama kids love our theatre workshops. Led by our local and international volunteers, the children discover new possibilities to express themselves and how to create scenes and pictures. Their abstract and creative thinking are a key part of the lessons as well as their ability to improvise. Frequently the plays are written by the children themselves, allowing them to handle and find solutions to their real-life problems as well as escape into fantasy worlds. Exhibition Project Karama runs a cultural project that aims to describe the camp from our children's point of view. We regularly invite small groups of our children to show what is important in their lives via photos, drawings and paintings, which are later displayed in an exhibition. The cultural project aims to teach others about the experiences, thoughts and feelings of Palestinian refugee children. It is a creative way to stimulate children and help them to express their history and present time. See some of the pictures here. Infant's Afternoon Older Karama kids regularly organize an "Infant's Afternoon". Every Friday they invite little children in the age of four to six years to our centre where both youth and infants play, sing, dance and paint. For that purpose Karama has bought some simple toys like blocks, toy cars and coloured pens which present something special for the majority of Deheishe's children because Karama's "Infant's Afternoon" is the only occasion to play with those things. Moreover the Karama youth think about special activities that can bring joy to their little guests. They have thought out dances, drawn cartoons and given little lessons, where infants have learned Arabic and English numbers for the first time. ........ Excursions One of the worst effects of the occupation is that the Palestinian's freedom of movement is restricted severely. Karama regularly organizes trips, whenever circumstances permits, to the greater surroundings of the camp in order to familiarize them with the country they live in as well as to meet their need for movement. Trips in the past included excursions to the swimming pools in Jericho, Artass, Solomon's Pools and other places around the country. Assistance lesson for students of the University In Deheishe many young people study at the Open University in Bethlehem. Some of them go to work at the same time to earn money for their families. This is why some students cannot join the open lectures regularly. In the evening after work, they try to catch up on the subjects which often prove to be difficult without the help of others. Our older Karama volunteers help each other with their respective subjects. For example, Wa'el gives Mathematics lessons for boys and girls and also offers lessons in Analysis and Mathematical management for the students. In a period of several months he prepared two groups of young men for their final examinations with lessons three to four times a week. Exchange Projects Karama has been running an exchange programme with a Swedish school in the city of Gothenburg. Children wrote letters and E-mails on a regular basis and sent each other small things such as sweets. As soon as we got the necessary funds, children from Deheishe will be able to visit their friends in Sweden and vice versa. Karama invites and welcomes also other organizations, schools and volunteers to become involved in exchange projects. We want the Palestinian children and women at Karama to discover and learn more about people in different countries and we also want to share our life experiences and the rich Palestinian culture with others. The project has a political aspect as well. By discussing issues with people from different countries we hope to raise political awareness about the hardships Palestinians face on a daily basis and about international questions in general. Past projects Education and leadership program for Karama children In Deheishe refugee camp the possibilities and opportunities are mostly intended for the children who are doing well in school and get high grades. This means that the students with lower grades have fewer or no chances to take part in activities. This is why Karama decided to make a project for these students. One part of the programme was, together with the local school teachers, to identify students with the lowest grades. During a period of two years Karama offered lessons to assist them with their studies, this helped the students to receive higher grades. One of the greatest outcomes was that some of the students obtained the highest grades in the classroom. Another stage of the programme was to assist 15 children in attending school. There are many reasons for the children not to attend school, an example of this was one child had to quit school in order to earn money for his family due to his father being imprisoned. Karama helped these children to go to school by paying them a monthly salary to learn instead of working in the streets. In the year 2005, 6 of these children took the high school exams. We wish them the best of luck! The third stage of the programme was aimed at both boys and girls with social or academic issues. Some of the youth are affected by the Israeli occupation of Palestine, others come from uneducated or illiterate families, and a few lost one or both of their parents. These circumstances can lead them to abrasive and violent behaviour in school; this makes instruction difficult for the teachers and disrupts other students. In cooperation with one school Karama chose the most aggressive teenagers between the ages of 13 and 15 years. The school warned Karama saying that it would be impossible to work with these teenagers, but Karama took the challenge and arranged a programme. The programme was arranged by two social workers who made eight workshops in one month. They held lectures about leadership, how to trust others and let others trust you. The teenagers were trained to lead workshops with small children. At the end they made a big festival which was led by the teenagers with help from the social workers. They made activities and games for around 180 small children. After the workshops and the festival the social workers kept in touch with the teenagers and held one meeting each week. At school the teachers became very satisfied with the behaviour of these previously noisy and violent teenagers. The same programme was completed in the girls' school and had even better results! The right to play This programme was held in two different kindergartens. At the first one 60 children participated and two social workers from Karama were in charge. The children were all around the age of five and came from families who were struggling financially. They were offered a chance to have fun and participate in activities and games. Karama arranged performances with clowns, the children made their own hats and there was also live music. It was a day with fun activities for the small children of Deheishe. At the end Karama gave prizes to all the children and offered them food for their families. Another day involved 236 children from kindergarten. Karama hired a special group that performed for kids with clowns. The children had fun expressing themselves through drawing and painting. They were also given the chance to sing and the day was packed with games and competitions. Direction and Advice The workshops address the changes in the life of adolescents and raises awareness in families about the various problems that can arise. Since January 2006 Karama has run Teenage Stage Workshops. It is a workshop that is held by psychologist Sharly Zidan. This workshop helps teenagers and adults to meet twice a month to be able to discuss the many changes that affect them mentally, socially and emotionally during this period of their life. After having discussions about various topics concerning these issues, they were divided into small groups. Each group discussed the issues that were most urgent in that specific group. Then each person, individually, wrote about the thoughts and issues they felt needed to be dealt with or discussed more. This gave each person the opportunity to reflect on a deeper level of how they function and how to express their feelings in words. The aim was to work on communication and to build understanding and respect for the feelings and integrity of the adolescents as well as adults. Wall-Painting project Karama arranged in cooperation with the Christian Organisation Dar Annadwa for six Karama boys to participate in a Wall-painting project, organised by Al Quds - University. In October 2004 the boys painted, together with international artists and volunteers parts of the Separation Wall that surrounds the West Bank and even divides regions of the Palestinian occupied territories. The project gave the boys a chance to express their feelings, and especially their feelings about the wall which stands as a reminder of their situation. Within just a few days many different pictures and messages were created which were addressed, not only to the Palestinians, but also to the international community to raise awareness for the Palestinian daily suffering. Karama children live on SH-TV On in July 2005 and again in 2008 our children went live on TV. The local Palestinian SH-TV made a two hour live broadcast about Karama children. The children talked about the organization and sang songs in front of the camera.
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