Love, Learning, and Support for Gaza's Children

There are no words to describe the ongoing human tragedy in Gaza. We’re heartbroken to see what’s happening to the children in Gaza. No child deserves this. 

It is a relief though that all the children enrolled in the afterschool program are okay. Traumatized but okay. All four teachers, their coordinator, and the head of the Women Programs Center (WPC), Mrs. Najah are also okay. The WPC, which hosts the after-school program classes, has been helping the displaced families in Gaza since the war started, providing them with hot meals, food parcels, clothing, shelter, and so much more. 

At the moment we’re working on a plan to enable the teachers to help the children in their neighborhood. The most pressing need for people in Gaza is food, water, and clothing. 

Everyone is in great need, there is an acute shortage of everything including food supplies. Whatever is available is very expensive. Our talented teachers are also struggling. We need your help to pay the salaries of the teachers. 

Teachers will be extending emotional support to children when the ceasefire comes. We will be needing your unwavering support to heal these children. Please reach out to your circle of friends and family and tell them about this program that will be our top-most priority after the ceasefire. 

May ceasefire and peace come soon. 

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As you can understand, our program is on hold for safety concerns. I’m sharing images of the children from before the war. Their happy faces seem like a thing of the past. 

Before the war came, the after-school program was doing an amazing job and did an impressive amount of work. With the help of their teachers, children made amazing things. An exhibition was organized in August at the Women Programs Center-Rafah where all four talented teachers, Artist Laila Kassab, Nermeen Kassab, Ruwaida Amer, and Maha Eisa put their amazing work on display. Children proudly presented their work to their parents visiting the exhibition. 

The afterschool program in Rafah provides plenty of opportunities for children to get creative. Art and creativity can help children develop into creative, and curious learners.Art teachers encouraged children in the afterschool program to express their creativity through art and other activities.

• Children created beautiful pen holders with the help of their teachers.
• The sea is the favorite place of children. Children made adorable sea creatures. 
• Using colored clay, children recently made beautiful things--flowers, ice creams, fruits, etc. 
• Children also made beautiful and colorful peacocks.

Scientific concepts were taught to children in the most interesting and fun way. 

• Children built a Food Pyramid and learned how much they should eat from each food group to stay healthy and energetic and maintain a balanced diet. 
• Children learned about microscopes and its function. They also created a microscope by using cardboard. 

In English class, children were taught the structure of a simple sentence (subject-verb-object), present simple tense, present continuous tense, etc. 

One last thing—sharing our project with your family and friends helps us spread the word about our work and continue to grow our community of supporters like you. If you’re willing to share the story of our work with your network, we’d be incredibly grateful.

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.