Summer Camp for Palestinians, 2018

This year, Reem Haj Yihya (a psychology student who worked last year at the summer camp) coordinated the summer camp together with Nur Najar, who recently has returned to live in the village together with her husband and two small children.

Our counselors were Issam Hijazi and Maram), Gal Zak (son of Vered Marom and Yuval Zak) and Muhammad Abd al-Qader (son of a newcomer family).

Our volunteers were Aman Dibsi, Rani Dibsi, Adam Ben Shabat, Nadim Dali, Daiar Daoud, Tamer Munir and Muna Boulus. Some of the adults of the community also got involved.

The Program

The summer camp participants were accommodated at the School for Peace campus, in three rooms for boys and one room for girls. They took showers in the sports building and used the clubhouse as a dining room.

On the first day, we organized the children, had lunch, took them on a tour of the village, and also organized a meeting for all the guides. The boys played football with Murad Abu Anza (Nur’s husband - a professional soccer player and well-known in Israel). The girls participated in a workshop instead of soccer.

After dinner, showers and arrangement of sleeping accommodations, there was a party with music and refreshments. We brought a small stereo system up from the Nadi in lieu of a professional sound system.

We quickly discovered that the children had arrived without personal amenities such as underwear, towels or a change of clothes. The accompanying staff explained that there had been no time to organize since they received permits only at the last moment. They had gathered what they could and outfitted the children with only a single set of clothes. We approached all the village residents for contributions of used clothing, and received many items within a short time. The rest had to be procured from the nearby town of Modiin.

This was a special group of children, with difficult personal histories. We understood from the counselors that they had to deal with much sadness and pain. Some of the children were indeed very sad. One 6-year-old boy cried all the first day, because his nine-year-old brother had not received a permit – who knows why? I promised that his brother would receive everything that he gets at the camp, and allowed him to speak with his brother every day. Since the child had no parents, he was very attached to his brother.

Two of the children arrived sick, feverish and distraught. These were examined by a doctor from the village. After buying them medicines, the next day their condition improved.

The children we brought this year were undoubtedly in a worse mental and emotional condition than the groups we have usually brought to the summer camps. Every one of the children carried signs of violence, suffered from some behavioral disorder, or was burdened by a difficult family story. Some of the boys and girls were really weak and thin, and appeared to be younger than their actual age.

At the end of the first day, at around midnight, we sat up with the counselors, staff and accompaniers from the orphanage. We found out that some of the children suffered from bedwetting and that we needed to get organized with clean bedding and blankets, besides clothes and personal hygiene equipment. Reem Nashef introduced the program for the second day and divided responsibility for each of the team members.

The second day: The plan was to get organized quickly, distribute the hats and t-shirts of the village that we had prepared for them in advance, and get ready for a bus ride to Beit Shemesh. From there, they took a short train ride up to Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo, where they also ate lunch. Rather than traveling further to the Old City and the Al Aqsa mosque, as we had planned, we decided to spend more time at the zoo. The children were enjoying themselves; this was a rare opportunity for them to spend time in the western part of the city, and there would be other opportunities to visit Al Aqsa in the future. In the late afternoon, they returned home for some games and activities we had organized for them before going to sleep.

It was an amazing day. The idea of taking the short train ride to Jerusalem turned out very well because it saved both time and money. The previous year, the trip had taken two hours and cost a lot of money.

The third day. This was the day all the children had been waiting for. We visited a water park, bringing swimsuits for almost everyone, but especially for the girls, who did not have clothes suitable for bathing. Initially there was an altercation with one of the guides, who was religious. She did not wish to allow some of the girls to enter the water, due to the need to dry their head scarves. In the end, Reem persuaded her to let the girls play in the water at least on this one special day, since making them sit on the side while their friends were enjoying themselves would make them feel like they were being punished. So eventually all the children spent a really happy day at the water park, after which they returned exhausted.

In the evening, Diana Shaloufi - Rizek took them to the gallery, and explained to them the current special exhibition by Palestinian and Israeli artists on the theme of refugees in the shadow of the conflict. After the exhibition Diana provided them with art materials and gave them a group art workshop (see pictures).

On the fourth day we started after breakfast with a treasure hunt game. The instructors prepared a map of the village with different stations and the goal was to reach all the stations according to the map. When the group arrived at the last station they received a prize. The children had to search the school, the spiritual center, the auditorium and the library according to the village map.

We spent a fun day in the village, including a visit to the swimming pool, participating in recycling workshops at the school and more. In the evening the boys played soccer and the girls took part in workshops for personal care and self-defense.

On the last day we began with a creative workshop making kites from recycled materials. Afterwards, we traveled to Jaffa. The day included time at the beach and, their first boat ride on the sea. The children sang, danced, played and took photos.

Before sending them home, we distributed everything we had bought for them or received as gifts from the village. Adnan Manna (who owns a pharmacy) donated cosmetics and perfumes for the children and their guides. They received first aid kits, clothes, soaps, shampoos and towels. Every child received a school bag containing holiday clothes and sneakers. They were so joyful.