December Newsletter 2005

December 2006 Hope Flowers School Newsletter 

We would start our newsletter with sending you our warmest greetings and appreciation and wishing you a Merry Christmas and a peaceful and joyful new year.

In a few days, the first half of this school year which had started on Sept. 1^st will be finished with a great success despite of the hard situation we still live every day.

In this newsletter, we would share with you our success and progress that we continued to achieve in 2006 with your support and faith in us.

Ongoing Programs:

Psychological Support Program: Started in 2004 and expanded in 2005 and 2006, this program is run by dedicated social workers and psychologists. The program helps teachers, parents, and students cope with stress and find solutions to many of the problems they face. The counseling and trainings offered through this program enabled many teachers to learn new educational techniques and to develop many productive relationships.

Ongoing War Trauma Counseling Program: During 2006, the pilot program successfully trained 15 Palestinian trainers and 28 teachers from 15 selected private and UNRWA schools. Based on this success, we decided expand the program of training teachers and psychologists on War Trauma Treatment. We followed the same program as last year in which the program is divided into two parts. Part one is the Training of Trainers, in which Palestinian psychologists and school workers follow the professional training on war trauma treatment and learn how to train school teachers. The second part of the program aims to teach school teachers about trauma, and how to identify and deal with traumatized children.

Due to the successful pilot program, the school, in coordination with the War Trauma Foundation in Holland, has decided to extend the program for the upcoming 3 years, during which 90 schools from the West Bank will be included.

Conferences and Events;

Joint Interfaith Retreats with the Interfaith Encounter Association. During the last few months, two joint interfaith retreats took place at the school in coordination with the IEA in Jerusalem. The first retreat took place on October 5^th. Muslims, Christians and Jews participated. The topic was forgiveness. We chose this date because it was in Ramadan. Meeting at his time had symbolic meaning in that Ramadan is a time to focus on forgiveness and peace among people. Therefore, organizing such a meeting in Ramadan had an important spiritual significance for the people who participated.

Integrating Students with Disabilities, Consistent with its philosophy to create social justice in Palestinian society and following up with the program that the school started in 2004 to integrate students with disabilities, the school has continued the program through 2005 and 2006. The Hope Flowers School has broadcasted TV spot on local TV stations to create awareness of the need to integrate people with disabilities into society. The school organized two integration summer camps during the summer vacations in 2005-2006. In 2005 the Hope Flowers School began addressing the issue of learning disabilities. Special thanks to the Foundation of Children’s Stamps from the Netherlands for supporting this important program.

New Programs in 2006;

Women’s Computer Resource Center:

   The preparations for this program began in 2004 when the Hope Flowers School decided to intensify and expand its education and support for the women in Bethlehem and especially in the villages. This particular project aims to upgrade and expand the existing student computer lab which had seven computers. Through this computer lab, the Women’s Computer Resource Center was established at the Hope Flowers School  by providing the school’s current computer lab with internet connection and an additional four computers.  The Women’s Computer Resource Center will be used by the women’s groups whom we are currently working with and will serve other women’s groups in the area. We are currently working with women groups from El-Khader village and the surrounding Refugee Camps who participate in the trainings given in the women center.  The Women’s Computer Resource Center will be training the women in computer skills through courses adapted to their needs and abilities.  This will provide essential assistance in their finding jobs and income resources.  It will facilitate the formation of Sister Circles for the PEACE X PEACE (an American organization) and its Global Network so that these women can connect and communicate with Sister Circles in the US.  It will enable the women to connect with other schools, organizations, and women’s groups around the world in order to promote an international dialogue and to build bridges of peace through the internet communication with women of other nations.

Highlight Event; the visit of the Japanese Ambassador; Mr. Yoshinori Katori, November 14^th, 2006

 During the year 2006, the Japanese Embassy in Tel Aviv, donated a grant of $36,000 to construct the northern retaining wall of the playground in addition to some renovation work in different parts of the school. This was the second grant from the Embassy of Japan, as the first one, in the year 2000, was for building the western retaining wall of the playground.

In appreciation for this support, the school organized a reception for the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Yoshinori Katori, who visited the school for the first time. The Ambassador gave a speech at the reception about the relationship between the Hope Flowers School and the Embassy of Japan who is supporting the school’s work for peace education. The reception was attended by the Mayor of El Khader who gave a speech in which he thanked the Japanese government for their support, and spoke about the important work that the Hope Flowers School is doing in the Palestinian community.

The Municipality delegation from Holland;

 On November 12^th, a Municipal delegation from Opsterland Municipality visited the Hope Flowers. The delegation was headed by Mr Sicko Heldoorn, mayor of Opsterland and other five council members from the municipality of Opsterland. The delegation was interested in the Hope Flowers work in peace education and aimed through this visit to initiate contacts between the Municipality of Opsterland and the Hope Flowers School.

As community development center, the Hope Flowers School is cooperating with the Municipality of Al Khader to develop our local society.

 The Wall Construction has already started in the school’s area: That was our main concern in the last few years: seeing the separation wall getting closer to the school. The construction had already started about a month ago. The wall is only 200 meters away from the school. It is very close and puts the school and the children in a real danger, since in this short distance of 200 meters, there will be so many military actions, sniper towers, surveillance cameras, trenches and all the other security procedures the army imposes around the wall. The biggest danger which arises now is the threatened demolition. During the last year, we managed with the assistance of our friends around the world and with the assistance from the State Department to halt this demolition. The wall throws us again under this threat. We haven’t received any official or written threats yet; but we are aware that being so close to the wall, the school and the surrounding homes are exposed to this danger again.

We are informing our friends, especially officials in the State Department, about how closed the wall is now. And we will appreciate any support from you to write or to make any appeals to stop the construction of the wall, which is approaching closer and closer to us now.

Special thanks to our Dutch friends

On behalf of the Hope Flowers School students, staff and local community we would like to extend our deepest appreciation for our friends at Peace to Palestine Foundation, Wilde Ganzen and NCDO for supporting and matching the donations respectively to purchase new bus for transporting of Hope Flowers School students.

Financial Challenges;

As previously mentioned in our past newsletters, the school has been encountering financial hardships for the last four years.  Due to the economic deterioration in our area, many families lost their sources of income. As a result, a large number of our students stopped paying the tuitions, which has caused many financial difficulties for the school. Therefore, we have been depending more than ever upon donations from international friends and supporters to meet our basic needs and priorities. We are required to pay a monthly amount of $11,500 to cover the staff salaries and the running costs.

We are also looking for support with our various programs aimed at expanding and fostering the school's philosophy of peace and democratic education. In addition, we are still in need for funding to obtain a school bus and upgrade the school’s facilities.

We greatly appreciate your support. There are various ways you can play a part in the progress at the Hope Flowers School; making a single donation, or sponsoring a child education for a certain time, funding one of our projects, forming a supporting community in your places. All of these ways will be of great support and will definitely make a difference for us.

For tax deductible donations, please send your contribution to:

Orange County Middle East Peace Fund or OCMEPF

P.O. Box 5891

Orange CA 92863-5891

For other donations, or any further information regarding the school or bank accounts, please contact us at

The Hope Flowers School, P.O. Box 732, Bethlehem, Palestine.

Tel: +972 2 274 0693 / 4975 Fax: +972 2 274 747084.

E-mail: hopeflowers@palnet.com  , Website: www.hope-flowers.org

Please don’t hesitate to visit our website and know more about our activities and work. We appreciate exchanges of knowledge and contacts. We also appreciate 'leads' and contacts concerning funding, educational and support possibilities

 On behalf of the Hope Flowers School, students, staff and local community, we send our best wishes

For our Christian friends; a Merry Christmas,

For our Jewish friends; a Happy Hanukah,

For our Muslim Friends; Happy Adha feast

And for all of us; a peaceful and joyful 2007.

Sincerely Yours,

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Ibrahim Issa

Co-director, the Hope Flowers School