Help the Children

RTI Club School Bag Campaign Beit Al Liqa Workshop

Childrens Club After School Children's Program Problem Definition: Since the beginning of the current Palestinian Uprising (Intifadah) against the Israeli occupation, Palestinian children have been direct witnesses violence, death, destruction, military incursions, shooting and shelling. These experiences have had a tremendous effect on children not only in the physical sense as many children lost their lives or received bodily injuries, but also in the psychological sense. Nightmares, bedwetting, violent behavior towards others, lack of respect for authority are seen as some of many issues facing Palestinian children these days. As the future of Palestinian society, children are now denied the means to develop their creativity, their talents, their ability to learn in safe and sound environments, to develop relationships and friendships and most of all to develop skills that will allow them to become key players as equals without differentiation based on social, economic, place of residence (city, village, refugee camp), etc. in developing a Palestinian society build on respect for human rights, tolerance of others, using nonviolence as a means to resolving conflicts, and become participants in a democratic society. Palestinian children, even in difficult times, need to continuously have the opportunity to be children and to grow slowly and healthy; to focus on their education, to develop their talents and mental abilities, and to learn new approaches of how to deal with violence, conflict and stress at either the political or social levels. This can only be done by developing means of concentrated care and attention given to these children for an extended period of time where trust and respect can be established in an environment that safe, caring, respectful and at the same time enjoyable and educational. In the Bethlehem area, even though there is wide support for an endeavor to help children, no long-term program has been established that provides numerous opportunities and activities for a number of children to go through for a long period of time. Goals & Objectives: Holy Land Trust, through the Remember the Innocents Department that was developed specifically to deal with issues concerning children and their development seeks to: Establish a yearlong program for up to 200 Palestinian children from the Bethlehem area to meet at least three times a week with periodic special activities and events, as a model that can be expanded in the future to include more children in the Bethlehem area and more importantly other areas of the Palestinian Authority. Create an environment where Palestinian children can work on their educational requirements for school in a supportive environment, learn new and creative skills, learn how to participate in group activities, and also participate in educational, environmental, community service as well as entertaining activities. Through this program help prepare a new generation of children to become leadership figures in the future Palestinian society. Develop a core group of experts in the fields of child development, development of core group dynamics, and training in communal skills such as democracy, human rights, conflict resolution and nonviolence. Work with numerous children's organizations, schools and community centers in the Bethlehem area in order to develop their internal abilities and give them the opportunity to work and network with other organizations in the Bethlehem area. The need for interagency collaboration and work is seen as essential for the success and continuation of this program in the future. While the long-term objectives of this program focus on developing the next generation of Palestinians with necessary core values of democracy, human rights, conflict resolution and nonviolence implanted in them, the short them objectives of this program are: Remove Palestinian children from the environment of violence and destruction lived by them on a daily bases. While it is recognized that the program will not provide a continues safe haven for these children form daily political violence, it is expected that a long term program can play a strong role in having these children look forward to coming activities and events. Create an environment that will help children, thorough the utilization of specialized tutors, in their educational needs and homework for schools. Bring out the talents of Palestinian children in art, music, theater, writing skills, sports, etc., and expand these talents as they are the creative Have children become active and positive influence in their schools, homes and neighborhoods. Allow an opportunity for children to develop friendships that take them away from their customary environment. For example, have children from the refugee camps meet and develop common ties and friendships with children from the city. Program Design: Target Group: The program will focus on Palestinian children aged 11-13 years old living in the Bethlehem district. Two hundred children will be selected and the dynamics of the group will include different segments of the Bethlehem district population. The group will be composed of children from refugee camps, villages and urban areas; will include Christians and Muslims; will include students who attend public and private schooling, and will include both genders. Holy Land Trust will work with other organizations and schools in the Bethlehem process to select those who will participate in the program. The students will fill an application form in order to determine their interests, their specific needs, and any other special care or requirements needed. Program Components: The major components of the program include the following: Education: Society cannot grow and prosper without a strongly educated population. While schools provide the education, being able to study and analyze what is taught is very important. This program will provide tutors to assist the student in learning what is taught and help them work through their schoolwork. Creativity: Talents are born in all children. It is the level of encouragement or enhancement that can either flourish these talents or can burry them for life. Through this program, children will be given the opportunity to exhibit their wonderful talents and hobbies in different files such as music, computers and web design theater, art, dance, sports, etc. Group Dynamics: In order to build a strong society, respect and tolerance for the different components that make up the community must exist. While the concentration of the Palestinian struggle has been to end the Israeli occupation, we must not ignore the differences within Palestinian society that can make or break its future. A major focus of this program will be on developing the abilities of the children in understanding and working together through democracy, human rights, nonviolence and conflict resolution. Community Appreciation: The Palestinian community has strong historical and cultural elements in it if not attended to can be lost for future generations to appreciate and respect. This also includes a natural environment and community service that children need to experience a sense of belonging to and appreciation of. Through educational tours and community service, children will learn to respect their history, culture, environment and community. Entertainment and Recreation: Bringing a smile to a child is the ultimate goal of this program. During these difficult times, it is vital for children to be able to live their childhood as much as possible. Through theater, movies, games, sports, picnics and a summer camp participating children will be given an opportunity to grow up slowly. Sequence of Activities: Summer 2002: Meetings with different organizations working in Child development programs in the Bethlehem area. This will give us the opportunity to determine what these organizations can offer in relation to the components mentioned above. August 2002: Training of trainers: All individuals involved in this program (teachers, supervisors, artists, assistant, and volunteers), will go through an extensive training (4-5 days) in issues such as organizational skills, group dynamics, dealing with and understanding children, and conflict resolution. September 2002 - June 2003: Implementation of the program based on the following general outlines: Gatherings will take place three days a week in the afternoons, after school. Each gathering will be for three hours with each hour focusing on a particular topic. For example, First hour will focus on assisting students in their homework and school requirements. Second hour will focus on a creative / recreational activity such as theater, music, etc. (Note: children may be able to participate in more than one activity during the program). Third hour will focus on developing personal and communal skills, such as group dynamics, democracy (i.e. mock parliament), conflict resolution, respect for others, etc. Once a month, a full day program will be implemented that will include educational tours (i.e. history, environment, culture, political), community service, meetings with other organizations, cultural events, etc. December 28th, 2002: Children will actively participate in the annual Remember the Innocents children's festival. They will be responsible for developing the program and implementing it. Summer 2003: The finally of the program for this year will be a five day camp for the participants. This will give them the opportunity to develop their skills and talents and also prepare for a final presentation of their talents that they strengthened and developed throughout the year. Action Plan: Holy Land Trust staff have begun meeting with different organizations that specialize in developing skills in children such as music, theater, and art. In addition to that, Holy Land Trust has conducted several meetings with experts in the field of child psychology and development as part of its research in developing this program. The next phase of the program will include finalizing agreements with the other organizations as well as all logistical, technical and training arrangements. Holy Land Trust staff and volunteers will visit different schools and other children's organizations and a survey / application form will be given to the children in order to complete. Based on the analysis of the applications, the two hundred children will be selected in order to create the biggest possible variety from the different backgrounds in the Bethlehem district. The program will be based on dividing the two hundred participants into eight groups of 25 each based on the interests and activities they want to participate in. On the application form, participants will have an opportunity to determine their priorities as far as their interests and what activities they want to participate in. Some activities will be required for all participants such as time for study and homework, and communal development skills. For these activities participants will be divided into smaller groups of eight individuals per group. Participating organizations will be responsible for providing the material necessary to implement their component of the program, such as musical instruments, materials for art, sports equipment, etc. This will be done through an agreement with Holy Land Trust. The activities for the program will take place in one location in Bethlehem that has ample facilities such as rooms for meetings, a cafeteria, restrooms, recreational areas such as sports fields, etc. Transportation will be provided to all the participants from and to their place of living. A Project Director will be hired to implement the program, monitor the progress of events, conduct all administrative and financial arrangements, and present periodic reports on the level of progress. Each group of fifty participants will have one person who will be their supervisor. This person's responsibilities will include continuous communication with the children, monitoring their progress, dealing with conflicts, and being their leader during day trips, the summer camp as well as other activities. Individuals interested in volunteering for this program will be encouraged to participate and help with the children. Resource and cost projections: As stated above, Holy Land Trust will seek to work with local organization that have experience in working with children. On the one hand this will be an encouragement for them to continue their work and on the other hand this will assist in developing a network of relationships between these organizations. It is never the intention of Holy Land Trust to reinvent the wheel. Holy Land Trust will also utilize existent facilities for the implementation of the program such as location, transportation, computer and Internet training, etc. In addition to that, Holy Land Trust will work with local Palestinian individuals and experts in the implementation and monitoring of the program. Estimated Budget (click)