Travel Brochures

Today the boys at Abu Dis Boys School the children designed a travel brochure. They had to persuade people to come and visit Palestine.

Many of them discussed Palestine's hot weather, famous landmarks (like Al-Aqsa Mosque) and the friendly nature of all of the people.

They all also mentioned Palestine's food, one of my favourite aspects of the country. They said how the food was delicious and encouraged people to come and try things like mansaf, maqlouba, knafeh and falafel.

This week at Abu Dis Boys School, the students wrote letters to children in England about their lives in Abu Dis. The pupils brought up the usual topics of sport, food and games - and, naturally, a lot of them mentioned the hardships that the Israeli occupation has on their lives and education.

Each of the children then read out the favourite thing that they wrote down.

My favourite was 14 year-old Kalam's, who wrote: I am happy resisting the occupation by knowledge and education.

The children had free reign on how to present their letters and Mohammad wrote his inside a heart. It was particularly nice to read his, as just a few weeks before Israeli soldiers had invaded the school and fired tear gas canisters on the playground - one of which struck his shoulder.

14 year-old Mohammad (right) who was struck by an Israeli tear gas canister whilst playing on the playground.

Qais and Adam from Abu Dis Boys' School visit Camden

In early October,  school students from Abu Dis Boys' School and from the Arab Institute were part of a CADFA group of visitors to London and the north of England.  It was a great visit for them and for us in London. 

Their project blog is HERE.

As part of their visit they went to schools and youth clubs. This is a picture of them and school students at a school in Pendle, Lancashire.

In Camden, they met many young people and several students from LSU took part in the visit.  

Their visit included 

a lunchtime visit to LSU!

and an assembly at Camden School for Girls. The young people made a presentation about their lives in Palestine. After that they had a tour of the school and were really impressed.

Tear Gas

Week 4. At the start of the week our session at Abu Dis Boys school was cancelled. The school had been tear gassed by Israeli soldiers. Apparently this is not a rare occurrence here, the school strongly resembles a prison due to a combination of security needs and lack of funding. This means there is nowhere for kids to escape when the air turns to poison. About 4% of the Abu dis boys are currently incarcerated in Israeli jails. Human rights violations are commonplace in these overcrowded underdungeons. Physical and mental torture, sometimes resulting In death, is utilised to punish the prisoners and coerce confessions. Stories are told of prisoners being beaten to death or having their families brought in, so their screams can be heard.The boys are there for petty crimes such as throwing stones at heavily armed soldiers. 

In an area rife with complex social and economic problems including the occupation I would argue a child's access to a decent education is more vital than back in the UK. How would you feel if your son's education was being routinely hampered by soldiers? This generations' education is a corner stone in the future peace of the region and if the soldiers here are working for peace they would also be working to protect a child's right to education.

The teachers are keen to improve the school however it is massively underfunded and evidence of this can be seen everywhere. Classrooms are somewhat bare and supplies are minimal if even available. This is the equivalent of working class but with none of the luxuries working class people in England generally receive, like stationary, uniforms and the opportunity of freedom. We've met boys who have come through this school and are now adults. None of them like the school, nor do they have positive things to say about the reputation of the school. It seems painfully obvious that they have come to realise that they could've had more. They could've worked harder. Their education could've been better if the occupation had not drained their land of opportunity. This is the most they are given, when we live in a world where people can buy islands, the young men of Abu Dis must find their own way.

HELLO AND GOODBYE TO ABU DIS BOYS SCHOOL

Today was the last day for me at Abu Dis Boys School. For the past three months I have really enjoyed working with the students here who are full of ideas and have been so welcoming. I would have liked to have had more sessions with them, but due a combination of the teachers strike, clashes and storm Alexa last week, I have not been there for a while. Now the school must catch up on work that has been missed and prepare for exams now until the end of January. Instead we will try to organise extra classes in Darasadaqa.

Whilst saying "goodbye" to Abu Dis Boys, it was also a time to say "hello" to the new volunteers in Abu Dis. I'm sure that Lawson and Robert will do great work at this school and be welcomed too.

PALESTINIAN MENU

Today the Boys made menus for a Palestinian restaurant. First they thought of a name for their restaurant and then they chose food they wanted to serve at the restaurant. They restaurant had choice between a starter, main course and a desert, followed by a selection of drinks. They also put the price of the food. 

LONDON

Today the boys from grade 7 were asked what they knew about London. Some of them thought that London had 6,000 people, so they were very surprised to find that London is a big city of over 8,000,000 people. That is more than the whole population of Palestine in one city! The boys had heard of Big Ben and knew about the Olympics. During the 2012 Games they watched swimming, javelin, running, basketball and tennis. When I showed them a picture of 'my house' they were very surprised at how big it is. This is because in actual fact I showed them a picture of Buckingham Palace. I told them that if I ever become King they will all be invited to stay there. Then the bell rang and it was the end of class. Their homework is to look at this blog... lets see if they remember.

Maybe the classes in London can tell us what they think about Palestine?

Today the Boys from Abu Dis boys school made postcards for the students at Hamstead. You will have to wait for Wa'ad to arrive to receive them! The boys thought the uniform that Hamstead wear is very amusing because it looks like the students are going to work! As you can see in the pictures, the students at Abu Dis Boys School wear blue t-shirts and black trousers.

Grade 7 making postcards for the students at Hamstead

Grade 8 using their artistic skills

Making stronger the lunchtime club ....

Me (Safia) and Tarek , after the meeting with Rafeef, help-teacher in Hampstead School, start to work in the idea how to make more stronger the twinning betweem the lunchtime in Hampstead School, and in Abu Dis !

The first idea is to start to teach some arabic work, to allowed students to make a skype conversation.
But, we have to distribute leaflets, and try to get a how is possible to talk in the next Assembly.

About the School,  It's a very equipped school, with more than three building ....

The students have to wear an black uniform, 
The Hampstead School motto is  'Learning Together Achieving Together', they provide the right support enabling students to develop confidence and encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning, and  develop morally, spiritually, culturally and socially....

Another day in Hampstead School

Today, Tarek and Safia went to Hampstead School, and they met Rafeef, and they discussed some ideas about how to attracive the students to join us to do our projects, then we went to the Women Center and, Safia distributed some leaflets to tell them about our projects and about the Organization, then we went back to the office to talk with Nandita, and to do the blogs.

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! 

FIRST SCHOOL SKYPE MEETING BETWEEN LONDON AND ABU-DIS

Today children from Abu-Dis Boys School met with children from Hampstead School, Camden for the first time using Skype. Although the meeting was short, it was a great opportunity for the children to introduce themselves and meet their twinning partners from London and Palestine. As it was the first ever CADFA School Skype meeting there were a few technical problems, which will be fixed for next time. The kids had many questions and stories to ask and tell each other, but did not have enough time today, however they were excited and enthusiastic to speak more next time. The children in Dar Assadaqa left a video message for the kids in London full of good wishes for future meetings. Everyone at Dar Assadaqa is looking forward to building on this opportunity and to share more projects in the near future. 

Hello all at Hampstead School and Abu Dis Boys' School,

TAREK - This is a picture of our new volunteer from Palestine in his first days in London.

Welcome to the new school year! 

The Hampstead-Abu Dis Schools friendship link can begin with our first meeting this academic year on Wednesday the 2nd of October at 1.30pm UK time (3.30pm Palestinian time).

Is there any chance of some students from each school speaking to each other via Skype at this time?

Khalil

This is one of the Abu Dis Boys School students who came to Britain on a CADFA visit in August: Khalil.

We had a prize for the best diary of the visit: Khalil and one other boy (not from Abu Dis) won the prize.

Here is the blog of that visit: 2013commonground.blogspot.co.uk

Update on the kids' visit from Palestine

Update on the kids' visit from Palestine

Following the Israelis’ holding the head teacher from Abu Dis Boys' School at the border to Jordan, our 16 Palestinian visitors including 12 children did not manage to get to their flight on Sunday. They had been planning to join us for five days in Devon followed by a week in London.

It’s hard to describe how disappointing this is. The very best we cando now is to bring the whole group to Britain NEXT SUNDAY. This means that the days in Devon cannot happen, this time, and the programme will need to be reorganised completely.

We are taking up the case of Mazen Salahaldin, the Headteacher who has not been allowed to travel. We would be grateful if you would help by asking your MP about it and by getting press attention for this if you can.

Amer

Hampstead School

information about Palestine 

Hampstead tree

Working with Abu Dis Boys

Teaching both 8^th and 9^th grade classes we realized there was not much difference in their level of English and so we decided to do the same activities with both grades. In our first week we attempted to develop the concept of twinning by brainstorming their knowledge of London, England and the meaning of twinning. Although this was rather difficult the boys do understand that they are twinning with Hampstead School in London and understand the importance of this twinning relationship.

In many of our lessons we tried activities that would enhance the boy’s English vocabulary and teach them grammar in a fun and productive way. The 1^st activity consisted of making an English Facebook page on a worksheets that encouraged the boys to talk about themselves and their own lives (things they like etc). This would be a great development if they boys were to ever be in contact with their fellow English pupils, especially if the buddy idea, which we have recently thought of, goes ahead.

Some of the grammar activities involved the revision and use of verbs. This consisted mainly of board work, but in one lesson we asked the boys if they could draw a picture of a person they admire and then write 5 sentences of why they respect this person, e.g ‘He fights for freedom.’ As you can see this includes the use of verbs.

Grammar lessons can become quite boring and difficult for the boys so we tried to make them as fun and practical as possible. One idea we came up with was to ask the boys to write their names vertically in graffiti writing and to think of an adjective beginning with each letter of their name. Combining both and grammar and art together proved successful and with a little help the boys managed to accomplish the task.

 

Some of the students from grade 8. 

Introducing Twinning

To introduce twinning with the young boys at Abu Dis Boys we decided to spent the first half of the lesson playing some warm up games to get comfortable with speaking English. The second half the lesson we focused on a twinning activity which included big sheets of paper and pens. We asked the boys to get into pairs and draw about what they knew about twinning, England and Cadfa. Most of the boys drew big ben and had some knowledge of twinning already. It was definitely a wild and energetic lesson! We think it's going be quite a challenge with Abu Dis boys but we are ready for it!!

English quizz for Palestinians' kids