Education and Fun for Palestinian Refugee Children

Dear friends and supporters through the Global Giving,

It has been two months now since our last report, so we are eager to update you on the developments in Karama Organization. Still, we look back at an hectic but amazing Global Challenge, with great results! We were able to reach out to many people, to get in contact with new sponsors and receive a rewarding amount of donations. And even after the Global Challenge we feel we benefit greatly from our account at Global Giving, since we continue to receive support. 

In the last months, the work of Karama continued steadfast through the help of international volunteers and the determination of our local staff and teachers. Since the schools started after the summer holidays and winter settled in, the openings hours are slightly reduced, to meet the children’s school schedule and to avoid keeping them in too long after the dark sets in. A group of young children run in daily after their school classes, which last from 7 o clock in the morning till 13 o clock. Our programs give them the opportunity to be creative and get their energy out, while receiving personal attention from our volunteers. This often results in new artistic wall decorations, and the wallboard full of colorful drawings. Also, the English lessons with several age-groups continue in small setting, in order to give the children the maximum of attention. This will support their lessons in the UN schools, where the children who struggle with the material often fall behind quickly.

One of the most recent projects that Karama successfully conducted was the transformation of the only Deheishe Camp Library! With the help of two dedicated international volunteers, we were able to extend our range of books, and set up a more systematic administration system. Above this, we added some soft cushions to create a comfortable reading corner. After the hard work, this resulted immediately in more kids using the facility! The queues have never been this long with children waiting to take out books, and children that never took books home before now have the chance to read in the library, as well as at home. We continue to look for options to extend our book range, and we work hard to keep the library an attractive reading and relaxing place.

Meanwhile, we continue to work with the primary schools in Deheishe Camp. Besides the activities in our center, which also support the educational system, we work to sustain the efforts of the schools as well. Since we identified the problems children experience due to too little attention in class and distraction due to emotional distress, we continue to make efforts to establish activities that will meet their needs. This have to happen in close coordination with the management of the schools, in order to identify the group of children that will benefit the most of our program, and to plan the activities according to their schedule.  With the success of the previous remedial program, implemented in 2010, in our minds, we are hopeful our current efforts will bring the most vulnerable children more academic success.

With this update we want to let our Global Giving supporters know what we did not forget them, and we continue to be thankful for your support! If you wish for more regular updates, why not add your email address to our mailing list at www.karama.org.

We thank you all for your interest in the work of Karama Organization and your continuing support!

Warm greeting from the Karama Organization.

Links:

• The Karama Website