FIRST DAY AT ABU DIS BOYS SCHOOL

Today small groups from grade 7,8 & 9 at Abu Dis Boys School met with the CADFA volunteers for the first time. The boys were excited about the opportunity to be involved in the twinning project and to learn about life in the UK from children their own age. Some of them had been involved in CADFA projects before and most had been to Dar Assadaqa (Friendship House) to have fun, make friends and practice their English.

The boys had many questions they wanted to ask the students at Hamstead …

·      What are your names?
·       How old are you?
·       Where is the school and what does it look like?
·       What are your teachers like?
·       Where is your favourite place in London?
·       How many brothers and sisters do you have?
·       What is the weather like in London?
·       What subjects do you study?
·       What football team do you support?

All the boys had interesting stories to tell about their school and life in Palestine. Abu-Dis boys school has 600 boys coming to the school every day and the classes have up to 40 students. The boys love playing football and basketball. Some of them support Barcelona and some support Real Madrid!

They also wanted to say that the Israeli occupation is very disruptive to their studies. Sometimes the school has to be closed because tear gas is thrown into the school. Can you imagine that! They also say that some of their friends have been taken by soldiers, which means their friends cannot learn at school. They cannot enter their capital city, Jerusalem, because of the occupation wall, which makes them feel sad.

Next week is Eid, a Muslim holiday, which means the boys get next week off school, so next time they will tell Hamstead about their holiday. The boys look forward to meeting the students at Hamstead and understanding more about their lives!