During each summer Palestinian and Israeli volunteers band together in order to set up summer camps for hundreds of Palestinian children in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
In 2007, Prelude organized a benefit concert to cover expenses of the Summer Games project. During the project in 2007, for the first time, about 20 Israeli children from Jerusalem joined the activities in the village of A-Tuwane, in the West Bank.
Summer Games 2008 is now in preparation, and as in 2007, Prelude will sponsor many activities and cover the expenses of materials, food and transportation.
To learn more about the project, please visit the Summer Games website.
Madaa Silwan Community Center
Silwan Ta’azef, Silwan Tarsem, Silwan Tihki
Silwan Plays Music, Silwan Paints, Silwan Talks
The Madaa Community Center in Silwan, an Arab village in East Jerusalem, offers three weekly courses for children: Music, Art and Languages. Prelude sponsors the activities in the community center, by covering the expenses of art and studying materials, such as paint, clay, paper and books. The Boomwhackers (percussion instruments) that were bought by Prelude have been used in the Summer Games project, the music lessons in Silwan and in music workshops for children in Palestinian and Iraqi refugee camps in Jordan.
26 children between the ages of six and twelve follow the weekly music classes. The classes are chiefly funded by Music in Me (www.musicinme.net), and are taught by the two founders of Prelude Foundation, Fabienne van Eck and Danny Felsteiner, while guest teachers from Israel and Palestine join for special workshops and performances.
The children, who had no previous music education, have learned how to sing and play various instruments, and have already performed on several occasions in and outside the village.
In the two art classes, 25 children between the ages of eight and fourteen paint, design and craft intricate and colorful artwork, as well as learn photography.
The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Jerusalem has granted scholarships to four excellent students who teach the art classes in Silwan in return.
The weekly English tutoring class is given to four secondary school students, as a preparation for their matriculation exams. The class is given by an Israeli volunteer.