A Safe Place for Kids in Deheishe Refugee Camp

Dear friends, 

As we are turning the pages on 2022, we are well aware what a challenging year it has been for many of us. Still faced with troubles in all aspects of life, many of us have experienced the power of solidarity and sharing in each others victories. 

Just like Karama felt your support when celebrating new funding opportunities and when reaching out for online volunteers. Many of you have connected with us and contributed in small and big ways... Thank you for all!

At the end of the year, Karama was able to launch the fully re-designed website so we invite you to have a look. Let us know your feedback and share with your friends! Together with some volunteers we have written some new content and article on the website, that we hope you find interesting. We also set out our different approaches and show you the opportunities to visit our work. Slowly we will continue to add translations to the website too, so far we have translated fully or partially to Arabic, French, Italian, Chinese and Dutch!

Have a look: www.karama.org 

Karama staff has many plans ready for the coming year, and we hope you will stay part of our journey. While the future might look bleak, we can all do our bit and make our communities a safer, more nurturing and thriving places. Thank you for your support that allows Karama to do its part.

From the whole Karama team, we wish you all the very best for 2023!

Looking forward to meet many of you (again) in the new year.

Lots of love from Deheishe, Palestine

Links:

• View our updated website!

Help us out! 

Dear reader and friends of Karama, 

How have you been? Hope you and your loved ones are well. 

Besides the activities going on inside Deheishe, we have been working on Karama's online presence. Our organization's website has received a full make-over and we are almost ready to launch! For the final steps, we are looking for some ONLINE volunteers who went to help out for a hours. 

Do you, or anybody in your surroundings, know about any of the following: 

- website editing in WordPress? 

- translation from English to any other language? 

- content creation for website and social media? 

If you have a few hours to spare during August and September, we would love to hear from you. 

The only prerequirements are that you have access to good internet, good PC skills and a good understanding of English. 

Hit reply, write us on Facebook or email us on volunteers@karama.org

Do hesitate to share this message with your friends, university, work place etc. etc. 

Links:

• Write Karama on Facebook
• Online Volunteering Information Page - Karama Organization

Hi friends and supporters, 

How was your start to the new year? Whether you have been celebrating achievements or reflecting on lessons learned we hope you are doing so in health and safety. 

Karama Organization in Palestine is excited to give you another news flash of some of our ongoing work and projects. Winter is often a little bit more "hybernating" than the active spring & summer months. Still, lots of work is being done by our team either through running and supporting entrepreneurial activities, administration and accounting, or community outreach in coordination with the UNRWA office. 

Some of our hard work now will lay the basis and partnerships for even more exciting work in the months to come! 

One thing we want to highlight in today's newsletter is the opening of a greenery store right in the center of the camp. In cooperation with several women from Deheishe camp, Karama has opened a small shop right at the main street of the camp. Here the women sell flowers grown in their own seedling nursery (a big greenhouse in the camp, introduced in a previous newsletter!). They also wrap up amazing gifts and sell other materials for growing flowers and vegetables in the camp. 

While our entrepreneurial activities are a very empowering and dignified way to support our women and their households, it does count on a good economic situation. The engaged women earn an income, grow their skills-set, and feel engaged in the community, instead of merely receiving aid. In Palestine however, the economy is not recovered yet from COVID19 and growth is very, very slow. For now, Karama needs to support these business activities, make initial investments and provide training and supervision for the women until they can function more independently. 

We thank you for being part of this and helping us, help these women set up their businesses! 

Warm wishes from the team, 

And drop us a line if you have any questions or suggestions! 

Links:

• Page from Karama's store on Facebook

Dear Loyal Readers!

Hope you are all doing amazing and staying safe and healthy during (what are here in Palestine) the hot July and August months! We have heard that several of our friends are experiencing difficulties in various parts of the world with extreme weather conditions, know that we pray for your safety and more wisdom and commitment from us all to better care for our planet.

Time to put the spotlight on another activity recently implemented by Karama Organization. Proudly we like to focus on a few women we would love for you to meet and get to know. Karama's team had the honor to meet some amazing, entrepreneurial ladies in the past years and in the last half year we finally came around making some supportive activities for these business women.

Karama strongly believes our women are capable of anything they put their minds and hearts to and we have seen many amazing stories of evidence from this. Such as Ra'eda and Intisar's who joined our rooftop greenhouses project last year and found new motivation through their little green garden. Now they are the engineers of their greenhouse, the leaders of their planting season and the providers of delicious organic produce to their families. If you are not eating organic, well… start today because it is worth the change! And there is the lovely Aireen, who is a young agricultural engineering student at Al- Arroub Agricultural College who has showed very good commitment and care in her greenhouse. So much that Karama now employed her to assist in the development of a seedling nursery. You know, those places where seeds can safely and effectively grow in small plants ready to be planted in the outside world…

But its not just flowers and tomatoes that are happening in Karama these days. What do you think about soap and beauty products? We got you covered! What about some lovely crochet bags and unique accessories following the latest fashion? We got that too! All because Karama connected with some amazing handicraft artists, who are willing and motivated to take their home-business to the next level.

One of the business women shared; "For almost 2 years now I have been working from home making different kinds of soaps and beauty products. I started because I love it and I am interested in this area, but also because I want to do something useful by myself that helps my family and can support my children in their education and medical needs". Karama engaged her in different business sessions and provided her with new supplies, branding and packaging. She continues; "I really felt seen by Karama team. Together we brainstorm ideas and now I am not alone but feel a team of people support my growing my little start-up".

Karama follows a holistic approach when it comes to entrepreneurial activities: we see the business of a women with their place in the market and their value chain to understand which areas of her business can use support. Together we brainstormed about consumers’ wishes, packaging standards, recognizable logos and branding and high-quality inputs. Of course, the project staff looked at marketing channels and ways to promote these items more in Palestine and hopefully abroad.

We plan to continue with our existing business women for at least another six months and there are a few priorities we hope to support these women in. For some it is more professional packaging, others better visibility and e-marketing for her products. We are so glad your support can contribute to these goals!

The women are tirelessly building a better future for their families day by day, and it means to world to them to feel supported! 

Wanna know where these businesses will be going? Keep an eye on our social media for more updates! 

Warm wishes from Palestine. 

Need for mechanical oxygen is enormous; already 5 oxygen concentrators for at-home use purchased by Karama.

Dear global supporters,

A year into the COVID19 crisis, the creaks and holes in the Palestinian economic and health system are clearly visible. Without access to vaccinations in sight, society sees another peak of cases and hospitalizations. While schools and shops were open for some time at the start of the year, lockdown rules are back to be very strict again.

This affects many households badly. If one family member is infected, nobody can leave the house or continue their daily activities. This affects the household income, and their opportunities for education. They also cannot go out to buy medicine, groceries, or any other needs, with neighbours or relatives needing to jump in and help. This is not always enough though, and many families have made appeals to Karama to assist in specific needs.

“The hardest part was not to be around my children and be able to take care of them” shares Afaaf who was hospitalized with COVID19 for over a month.

One of these severe cases was Karama participant and mother Afaaf. She and some of her children became infected with the virus. Sadly Afaaf’s situation very quickly deteriorated, and she was hospitalized with a heavy lung infection. As all know, oxygen is crucial in the fight against COVID19 and many patients rely on the mechanical provision of oxygen when their own lungs are failing. Also Afaaf was placed on a breathing machine for most of her hospital stay as her body was fighting this difficult virus. Her daughters and husband feared for her life. After several weeks in the ICU, her body begin to recover, and a plan was made for her return home. The medical staff advised her to obtain an oxygen concentrator for at-home use, so she could continue her recovery among her children.

However, access to life-saving tools like oxygen concentrators is not equal.

As Afaaf’s household was already struggling with medical bills and decreased income, she desperately looked for other actors to support her. This triggered Karama to step up its efforts in the medical field and connect with other local health providers to contribute to a solution for this shortage of mechanical oxygen. Oxygen concentrators are a relatively easy and affordable way for medium severe cases to receive oxygen in flexible locations, either at home or in health clinics. So far, with the support from our friends around the world, Karama could step in and purchase five oxygen concentrators.

This allowed Afaaf to go home safely and continue her recovery among her children.

The needs are high in Palestine at the moment. The ICU’s are full with people fighting for their lives. Many more people are struggling at home and could benefit from medical equipment in the safety of their own home. Karama is committed to continue to coordinate with local institutes and assist with the purchase of equipment whenever needed and possible.

Thank you for standing with us. 

Warm greetings from Palestine.

Links:

• Karama on Facebook