Children of Peace (http://childrenofpeace.org.uk/)
Day at the Sea event 3
We are extremely proud to have recent supported affiliate Humans Without Borders.
This is for their 'Day at the Sea' event, held on the 5th of August 2015.
Below we include a description of the event. This is in the words of Human Without Borders:
"Yesterday, 5 August, Humans without Borders, with the support of Children of Peace took two busloads of Palestinian families to the Tel Baruch beach north of Tel Aviv. What is unique about these families is that each has at least one very sick child requiring intensive medical attention in an Israeli hospital. In all we took 57 children to the event – children under treatment, and brothers and sisters and about 30 parents. Several were unable to make the trip due to hospitalization or illness or the fact that we were unable to get them permits from the military government.
We put together a major support organization, of about a dozen Humans without Borders active volunteers and a few of their teenage children, 10 youngsters from the villages of Abu Gosh and Ein Rafa (west of Jerusalem), a half dozen students from the “Hand in Hand” bi-national school in Jerusalem, and a volunteer nurse. Since all these people are Arabic speakers. There interaction with the children was immediate and extremely positive. This was a major factor in the huge success of the day.
The meeting points were two Israeli military checkpoints – Bethlehem (south of Jerusalem) and Kalandia (north of the city). The excitement was amazing. We set the departure time at 9:00 AM but the first call I received was at 7:30 from a family from Jenin (2 and a half hours north of the checkpoint) that they had already arrived at Kalandia. As soon as the buses arrived, the families were onboard and ready to go.
The Tel Baruch beach is a magnificent location with a breakwater and massive stretches of sparkling sand. Dana Cohen, the Humans without Borders volunteer who managed the event, arrived early in the morning and set up 24 beach umbrellas to provide shade for the families. We called it a Palestinian settlement in Israel!
It was quite amazing to see the reaction of many of the parents who had never seen the sea until yesterday. They were simply stunned by the expanses and the distant, unending horizon. This is exactly as one woman described it to me.
The kids were in the water before we could get them coated in screen block and, after a bit of convincing, the parents followed. From a social and traditional perspective it was fascinating to see how fully-clothed Palestinian women enjoyed themselves as much as Israeli girls in bikinis. Everyone was frolicking in the water. We brought along, tubes, balls, pails and shovels and such so the only thing the kids complained about was when we pulled them out of the water to eat.
Dana brought along a selection of baked goods for breakfast and tons of watermelon and we had ice pops (popsicles where I grew up) to make sure they were getting sufficient fluids.
Lunch was delivered by a woman from Jaffa who prepares traditional Palestinian food. It was delicious and nothing remained except for empty containers.
It was a very hot day, in spite of the fact that the temperatures had dropped from around 40C to about 33C. It was crucial that we consider the time the children would be exposed to the sun. Thus we vetoed several of our initial ideas such as a boat trip or a kite project. It was simply too dangerous to have them in the fierce sun for so many hours.
At about 3:30 PM we called it a day – much to the chagrin of several of the boys. Everyone showered in fresh-water showers on the beach and we were on our way back to a much harsher reality.
This event could not have been possible without the generous support of Children of Peace. Many people – Israelis, Palestinians and even a Dutch couple – asked just what your logo was doing on the shirts and I explained what our organizations do and the support you provided for the day at the beach."
#israel #palestine #beach #seaside
Day at the Sea event 3
We are extremely proud to have recent supported affiliate Humans Without Borders.
This is for their 'Day at the Sea' event, held on the 5th of August 2015.
Below we include a description of the event. This is in the words of Human Without Borders:
"Yesterday, 5 August, Humans without Borders, with the support of Children of Peace took two busloads of Palestinian families to the Tel Baruch beach north of Tel Aviv. What is unique about these families is that each has at least one very sick child requiring intensive medical attention in an Israeli hospital. In all we took 57 children to the event – children under treatment, and brothers and sisters and about 30 parents. Several were unable to make the trip due to hospitalization or illness or the fact that we were unable to get them permits from the military government.
We put together a major support organization, of about a dozen Humans without Borders active volunteers and a few of their teenage children, 10 youngsters from the villages of Abu Gosh and Ein Rafa (west of Jerusalem), a half dozen students from the “Hand in Hand” bi-national school in Jerusalem, and a volunteer nurse. Since all these people are Arabic speakers. There interaction with the children was immediate and extremely positive. This was a major factor in the huge success of the day.
The meeting points were two Israeli military checkpoints – Bethlehem (south of Jerusalem) and Kalandia (north of the city). The excitement was amazing. We set the departure time at 9:00 AM but the first call I received was at 7:30 from a family from Jenin (2 and a half hours north of the checkpoint) that they had already arrived at Kalandia. As soon as the buses arrived, the families were onboard and ready to go.
The Tel Baruch beach is a magnificent location with a breakwater and massive stretches of sparkling sand. Dana Cohen, the Humans without Borders volunteer who managed the event, arrived early in the morning and set up 24 beach umbrellas to provide shade for the families. We called it a Palestinian settlement in Israel!
It was quite amazing to see the reaction of many of the parents who had never seen the sea until yesterday. They were simply stunned by the expanses and the distant, unending horizon. This is exactly as one woman described it to me.
The kids were in the water before we could get them coated in screen block and, after a bit of convincing, the parents followed. From a social and traditional perspective it was fascinating to see how fully-clothed Palestinian women enjoyed themselves as much as Israeli girls in bikinis. Everyone was frolicking in the water. We brought along, tubes, balls, pails and shovels and such so the only thing the kids complained about was when we pulled them out of the water to eat.
Dana brought along a selection of baked goods for breakfast and tons of watermelon and we had ice pops (popsicles where I grew up) to make sure they were getting sufficient fluids.
Lunch was delivered by a woman from Jaffa who prepares traditional Palestinian food. It was delicious and nothing remained except for empty containers.
It was a very hot day, in spite of the fact that the temperatures had dropped from around 40C to about 33C. It was crucial that we consider the time the children would be exposed to the sun. Thus we vetoed several of our initial ideas such as a boat trip or a kite project. It was simply too dangerous to have them in the fierce sun for so many hours.
At about 3:30 PM we called it a day – much to the chagrin of several of the boys. Everyone showered in fresh-water showers on the beach and we were on our way back to a much harsher reality.
This event could not have been possible without the generous support of Children of Peace. Many people – Israelis, Palestinians and even a Dutch couple – asked just what your logo was doing on the shirts and I explained what our organizations do and the support you provided for the day at the beach."
#israel #palestine #beach #seaside