Summer Camp for Children from Dheisheh Refugee Camp
30 June, 2012
Seven youth leaders from Dheisheh refugee camp, next to Bethlehem, organized a summer camp of four full days of fun for 50 children from their camp. The children have three months summer holiday, and usually hang around in the crowded streets of the camp.
On the first day, the children received workshops in music, rap, games, and theater. On the second day, they went to a nearby nature park to enjoy the green space while playing sports and games. Many of the children never get the chance to go swimming, so the kids couldn’t be more excited to spend more than 8 hours on the third day in an outdoor swimming pool! On the fourth and last day, they went on a long trip. Only at 22.30 pm all the kids had arrived home safely…They had traveled to the only zoo in the West Bank, in Qalqilia, a city surrounded by the separation wall from three sides. After that they played for hours in an amusement park in Ramallah.
The youth leaders have all been trained by Musicians without Borders and Holy Land Trust in music and nonviolent leadership. This has helped them to become great workshop leaders that give the children the space to express themselves and be creative. Jacqueline, an American volunteer from HLT, joined the summer camp for two days and wrote the following:
“The time I spent with the children from Dheisheh was incredible. I have never met kids so excited about life and so appreciative of what they have. They were so patient and kind in helping me learn new Arabic words, and were eager to practice their English as well. I hope that I will have another opportunity to work with such a special group.”
Prelude Foundation has paid all expenses for this summer camp, including food, transportation, and entrance fees to the different venues.
For more photos see the Facebook album made by Hisham, one of the workshop leaders: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150989222578416.454792.535533415&type=3