A New Classroom for ZAY Kindergarten

We are raising funds to help build a new classroom for Zahrat Al Yasmeen, the Kindergarten of Lajee Center, a grassroots community organisation run by and for refugees in Aida Camp, near Bethlehem.

About Lajee and Aida

Established in 1950, Aida is home to more than 5000 refugees. In the shadow of the wall and a huge military installation, the occupation uses the camp as a training ground to test new weapons, surveilling this community 24/7 from watchtowers. Jeeps, armoured tanks and combat vehicles invade regularly, using an array of weapons against children, many who have been wounded and worse. They all know the all-too-familiar sight of their playground filling with tear gas. In 2017, Berkeley Law School research found Aida to be the most heavily teargassed place on the planet.

Alongside this daily nightmare there are miracles here, and many begin in the Lajee Center. A grassroots space set up in 2000, Lajee is home to a multitude of self-initiated programmes that work to meet community need. From gym to dance to a media and environmental unit, holistic health workers to tackle high instances of stress-related conditions like hypertension and diabetes, a hydroponic garden to mitigate the chronic food insecurity and a water testing service. Lajee’s logo is a key that symbolises the refugees’ right of return, and the center fosters in young people the critical skills to help them to take an active role in society via a framework rooted in justice.

About The Kindergarten

Education is another essential resource that refugees in the West Bank struggle to access. Schooling options are underfunded, extremely overcrowded, out of reach, or do not meet a child's learning needs. Often children must pass through armed checkpoints just to get to school, with all the fear, trauma and humiliation this entails. The first phase of Zahrat Al Yasmeen is (Jasmine flower) Kindergarten, opened in 2021, was designed to address this.

The first classrooms opened in September 2021 after a collaborative process where parents helped dream into being what this place could be based on what they hoped for for their smallest children: top of the list was safety, nurturing and exploration. Led by Director Magi Fatouleh, who has a specialism in supporting children with disabilities, the Zahrat Al-Yasmeen approach is built around coping skills and working with the high-stress levels children have due to their environment. Teachers guide and support children via a trauma-informed play-based programme centered on nature, art, drama and music, storytelling, art, cooking, dabke dancing, olive harvesting singing and puppetry. 10-15% of the children have a learning disability and are integrated into classes with extra support.

The project and the help we need

Last summer the first class of 5 year olds graduated from Zahrat Al-Yasmeen, and graduation ceremony attendees spoke of a situation beyond those dreams. Tears of joy flowed and some parents said they hardly recognized their own child, such was the positive change. This cohort has now gone on to local primary schools with a solid foundation. In its second year, more than 80 three-year-old refugee children from Aida and Azza camps applied for a place at the kindergarten, but due to the lack of space only 51 of them could be accepted.

This much-needed extension planned for 2023 will make innovative use of additional disused garages at the front of the building to raise places available to 75, offering three more classes catering to 4-5 and 5-6 year-olds by converting what is now garage space into appropriately designed and safe support space. 20m2 including appropriate toilets, extra storage, ancillary space. It will be designed to maximise natural light whilst providing protection from tear gas attacks. The spaces will be connected across two floors with connection to the playground to emphasise learning through play.

€10,000 is a portion of the bigger budget needed to complete this project but we are calling on our community to help contribute this much, and more!

Who are we?

We’re Irish and Welsh friends who met as volunteers at Lajee Center in Summer 2022. Horrified by the brutal reality of life under occupation we also fell in love with the strong, steadfast and beautiful community of Aida. Now we want to support our friends in the spirit of solidarity, not charity, and are asking for your help to resource the next generation with the strongest foundation possible.

We will be raising funds online, through sponsored marathons and fundraising events, from Cork City to Berlin and beyond! All donations of any size are welcome, and if you have an idea to help us meet our target and support in another way, please drop us a line.