COVID-19 Palestine Project #50741

Love, Learning, and Support for Gaza's Children

by Rebuilding Alliance

Project Report | Jul 31, 2023
Children's outstanding performance in final exams

By Maria Syed | Project Leader

Hello Future Astronaut from Gaza

Thank you for supporting this afterschool program that is helping children in Rafah, Gaza, who cannot afford private tuition, with their studies, and leaving a positive impact on them.

Children performed remarkably well in the final exams held in May. Science teacher, Ruwaida happily told us, “I felt a great difference in their knowledge and their interest in the subject. My students showed a serious commitment to their studies.”

Ghadeer, a student who attends science lessons, shared her opinion. “I did not like the science subject because it is full of information. When I used to study it earlier, I felt as if I was drowning. I did not know where to start. But when I started attending the science lessons with the teacher, Ruwaida, I felt that the subject became easier. She helped me understand the difficult lessons. During exams, we revised lessons. As a result, my knowledge of the subject has gotten better. It has gone from good to very good, and now close to excellent!”

Ghadeer's mother had similar things to share, “I was relieved when my daughter started science lessons at the center. During the exam period, I did not worry about her studies because she was revising lessons with her teacher. Science has become her favorite subject and she has secured a very good grade.”

Maha, the English teacher, said that she has seen a visible improvement in the English language skills of her students. When children joined the class, they were shy about speaking English. By the end of the year, they were confident and competed with each other in answering my questions in English.

Science and English teachers helped children prepare for the exams. They revised all the important lessons. If any child was struggling with a particular lesson, they were given extra support.

In May, right before the exams, Gaza saw an assault for five days making children anxious. Teachers did their best to extend emotional support to children like they have been doing for the past two years. They organized many activities so children could take their minds off their challenging environment and helped them vent and relax.

Learning science is exciting under this afterschool program. Science students make models with the help of their teachers so they understand the scientific process they’re studying. These past few months, children made many models of the solar system, animal cells, parasites that feed on plants, volcanoes, the photosynthesis process, etc.
In the English class, children received lessons on the basics of the language: word families, vowels, nouns, pronouns, prepositions, synonyms and antonyms, verb forms, introduction to new words, etc. Short and simple English stories are read to children regularly.
In the art class, children did many, many creative, colorful, and fun activities with their teachers Artist Laila and Nermeen. They made beautiful roses, butterflies, lanterns, and kites with the help of Laila. One activity, in particular, is worth mentioning. In the context of frequent incidents of olive trees uprooting, Artist Laila made children create Love Trees. A love Tree cannot be uprooted, it only grows and eventually becomes victorious.
Art teacher Nermeen took art classes in the Women Programs Center. These past few months, children made paper puppets, fish, rabbits, giraffes, sheep, lanterns, and so much more. Since the summer vacations started, the children have also been doing fun activities.

Thank you for extending love and support to Gaza's children. Please tell your family and friends about this project and encourage them to show some love.

Learning about volcanoes through a model

Model volcano in science class

Learning animal cells in science class

Making a model of animal cell

English class

Learning English

Learning the sounds of letter C

Encouraging children to express their feelings

Love Tree

Fun-filled projects with Artist Laila

Colorful kites were made with Laila's help

Face painting activity with art teacher Nermeen

Making paper puppets in Nermeen's class

Cut and paste in Nermeen's class

Making bees in art class

Meet Ghadeer, a student of science

A model of the solar system

Permalink

Mar 17, 2023
Providing holistic learning to Gaza's children

By Maria Syed | Project Leader

Children made a model human heart in science class

With your support, this amazing after-school program is going strong in its third year.

Art, English, and Science lessons are provided to children twice a week. While most lessons are given in the Women’s Program Center, Artist Laila gives art classes in her garden. This after-school program offers holistic learning to children. Textbooks are consulted for guidance but teachers keep up to date on current information by consulting other resources. More importantly, lessons are tailored according to the background knowledge of the students. Those with little or no knowledge are provided with extra help to bring them up to speed with others.

Teachers make sure that children fully grasp the concepts. Science teacher Ruwaida involves children in making creative projects in the class to clarify basic science concepts. Recently, children made a model of the human heart to learn its structure and functions and to understand how the circulatory system works. Children also made the human skeletal system with cotton swabs and labeled its various parts. This intricate model was a treat to see.

Teachers involve students in problem-solving activities to encourage independent thinking and motivation for learning. Children are provided with plenty of fun opportunities because they often learn best through play. Maha comes up with fun ways to teach English. Children are asked to create sentences using colorful papers, pictures, and cards. In the pictures below, you can see children creating a sentence to talk about the day and weather. In another activity called ‘Let’s Make a Cake’, children learned about kitchen items in English.

The children have also been observing special cultural and international days. The idea is to create awareness and celebrate achievements. Artist Laila threw a small party to celebrate Christmas and New Year for her students in her garden. She told the children that new beginnings mean new opportunities and striving for one’s dreams and goals with a fresh mind.

Recently, children observed International Women’s Day by doing many activities. They honored two great women: Donna Baranski Walker (Executive Director of Rebuilding Alliance ) and Mrs. Najah Ayyash (Head of the Women’s Program Center, WPC, Rafah) for their humanitarian work. In Artist Laila’s class, children made beautiful gifts for their mothers. And with art teacher Nermeen, they made small tokens of appreciation for the women working in the WPC. On the occasion of Valentine's Day, children sent their love to all the children of the world.

I want to thank you for providing these children with such wonderful opportunities for learning and fun. You’re giving them the best gift ever by investing in their bright future. Please encourage your friends and family to make a gift for this wonderful project!

Thank you for all that you do!

Skeletal system made with cotton swabs

Children in English class

Learning how to make a sentence in English

Learning items in the kitchen

Christmas and New Year Party in Laila's garden

Children honoring Donna and Mrs. Najah

Appreciating women on Int. Women's Day

Sending their love to children across the world

Thanking mothers on Int. Women's Day

Permalink

Nov 19, 2022
Making learning fun!

By Maria Syed | Project Lead

Coloring Mandala Art

Dear friend,

Thanks to your continued support, Rafah's children are being provided with opportunities for learning and fun. Because we believe that children learn best by having fun!

Conditions in Gaza, with the prolonged blockade, create a heavy strain on the psychological health of the children there. In such a backdrop, children require more than textbook learning to meet their needs. We’re happy that all four teachers that participate in this program are able to reach their students in a unique and meaningful way.

In September, we were happy to welcome Artist Laila Kassab back to work. She resumed art classes for children in her garden, doing what she loves and ensuring that children have a good time. These include simple activities such as coloring Mandalas that have many psychological benefits for children--stress release, better focus, and increased productivity. She recently organized an olive harvest activity in her garden for the children, celebrating Palestinian cultural heritage with them. Children had fun picking olives and enjoyed a spread at the end of the day featuring olives.

You’ll be happy to know that art teacher Nermeen, who came in as a replacement for Laila, is still on the team and is teaching art classes out of the Women's Program Center for children in the neighborhood. Children enjoy doing colorful and creative activities with Nermeen. According to Nermeen, creativity stimulates enthusiasm among students and problem-solving skills, and makes them feel empowered. Using simple materials, children make the most beautiful things–butterflies, bouquets, vases, etc.

Science teacher Ruwaida continues to work hard instilling a love for science in children through innovative and hands-on learning methods. She helped her students make three different types of landscape models--coastal, desert, and plains. The children had tons of fun making these models and learning about the natural conditions of different landscapes.

Most parents in Gaza are unable to help their children with the English language, while private tutoring is not an option due to limited resources. They are happy to see their children's English language skills getting better each day because of the lessons they are receiving from Teacher Maha. With the help of colorful charts and cut-and-paste activities, Maha makes sure children enjoy her lessons. See in the pictures below how Maha is teaching adjectives to children.

This project has been going strong for nearly two years now. This would not have been possible without your support. Thank you for giving fun-filled learning opportunities to these children.

Sincerely,

Maria

P.S. Would you like your donation to get a match from GlobalGiving? On Giving Tuesday, November 29th, GlobalGiving is giving out $1.2 million in matching funds. Please save the date, November 29th, 2022 to make your donation.

Coloring Mandala Art in Artist Laila's class

Picking olives in Artist Laila's garden

A spread for children after the olive harvest

Children in Nermeen's art class

A child showing her art work

A child with her snail

Ruwaida's Science class

Teaching Science through fun activities

Children proudly showing their Science project

A view of English class

Learning Adjectives

Learning how to describe weather in English class

Today, the weather is ...

Permalink

1 2 3 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.