Summer Camp 2004
In June 2004 Karama arranged a camp for school children between the age of 9 and 17. During nine days Karama offered the children different activities - each day had a theme. One day was concentrating on sports activities, such as football, volleyball and running. Other days focused on a mental health support course by a trained psychologist, on drawing or on reading stories. The children and the leaders from Karama also tracked through the village of Artas to the Solomon's pools for a picnic and some playing.
Another day the group went to the SOS children village's orphanage in Bethlehem. The children from Deheishe then performed some voluntary work planting trees and flowers and, not at least, made new acquaintances with the children at SOS. Karama also arranged a trip to the Dead Sea for a day. The original destination was Jericho, but plans were changed since the Israeli army refused to let the buses with the children into Jericho. Despite the difficulties of the trip the children were happy visiting the Dead Sea area, for some of the kids this was the first time they saw the sea.
All in all, about 100 children participated at the summer camp, along with ten leaders. The summer camp ended with an "open day" during which the children's mothers joined workshops about child rearing. At the same time the children were discussing their relations to their mothers. Later during the day the women and children were brought together to discuss theses issues. Afterwards the children took the opportunity to show the women the dabke , the Palestinian traditional dance they had learnt as well as jars they had painted. The day ended by a performance of a theater group from Jerusalem and a big cake-party.
Mosaic Project
In August 2003 the Italian mosaic artist Carolina Zanelli
together with Karama children created a mosaic decorating
a wall in the kitchen which is yet in need of renovation.
The mosaic consists of broken tiles, stones, old CDs and
the like.
Music Section
In April 2003, Karama increased its music activities with the help of a professional music teacher . The aim is to establish a Palestinian music group, Jokah , that will especially play and sing Arabic music. So far the children were given the possibility of trying different instruments in order to be later able to specialize in a single one. The instruments are all borrowed and we are in urgent need of financial aid for this project which is strongly appreciated by the children.
Mathmatics Classes
The unsatisfactory education situation in Deheishe's schools causes deficits in many subjects, particularly in mathmatics. Most of the classes are overcrowded (45 students average), so that teachers are not able to take special care for students who cannot follow the lesson. That is why the Palestinian student Wa'el offered voluntarily mathmatics assistance courses several times a week. At the moment he teaches two boys-courses, a group of young girls as well as girls attending already High-School. In special cases he gives private lesson in addition.
Preventive
Lessons
In cooperation with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Karama started preventive lessons in August 2003 which are held weekly . After playing games with the children, a psychologist and a teacher start discussing with them about certain topics (e.g. smoking, violence). Afterwards, the children are stimulated to deal with the topic in a creative way (e.g. by drawing or painting). This project is very popular amongst the children and finds great acceptance.
In February 2003, Karama has started activities for about 30 children
by giving them English classes several times a week. These lessons
serve as a good complement to the insufficient teaching in the schools o
f the camp. They are also a good way to distract children from the stressful situation they live in. The objective is to facilitate international contacts and provide this generation of Palestinian refugee children with better options at universities and in professional life. Our Swedish volunteer Nina Gren gave lessons for four months. After she had returned to Sweden, young Palestinians from the camp who have already good English skills took over her role.
