Interview at Press TV

Tamara and Noor were invited to Press TV to talk about their work at CADFA  and the right to education in Palestine.

Some photos from September 2012

Remembering the Catastrophe

We often want to ignore the tragedies of our past. They move us to sadness or moruning and the usual human reaction is to brush such things under the carpet. However the Palestinian Catastrophe or Nakba, is something the people here remember each year with admirable conviction. It is the history which adds legitimacy to their existence and rights to their land.  Its commemoration is vital in educating the next generation of Palestinains about their roots and culture.

At the Friendship house, we organised a day of events including singing, dabkeh and poetry recitials as well as a small art exhibition showing vivid images of those who were ethnically cleansed from their home soil. It was an unusual but inspiring event because from this tragedy, the Palestinians found hope and optimisim.

Dar Assadaqa: Nakba Day

دار الصداقة : يوم النكبة

Date: Saturday 19 May 2012

التاسع عشر من شهر ايار 2012

Time: 12:00pm

الساعة االثانية عشرعرض افلام  

تدعوكم دار الصداقة وجمعية صداقة كامدن ابوديس للمشاركة في فعاليات يوم  النكبة وذلك يوم السبت الموافق 19\5\2012 حيث هناك العديد من الفعاليات لاحياء ذكرى النكبة

تبدا الفعاليات الساعة الرابعة عصرا

Dar Assadaqa is marking Nakba Day on Saturday 19 May 2012 with a variety of performances and activities. There will be many performances by the children including:

v Music      موسيقى

v Poetryقصائد

v Films افلام

v Dabke دبكة

v Dramaدراما

Come along and mark Nakba Day and support the children in their performances. There will be light drinks and snacks. We hope to see everyone! All are welcome!

شاركونا فعاليتنا وادعموا اطفالنا في نشاطاتهم

نتمنى ان نراكم جميعا

اهلا وسهلا

Breathing new life into the Community Centre

Throughout out time hear at Dar Assadaqa, we have placed a lot of focus on organising the commmunity centre to make things easier and more efficient. This benefits, not only to us volunteers, but the kids and young people we work with. Today, we commenced the long process of the 'aesthetic workout'- making Mrs DA look beautiful!

The weather was both a blessing and a curse. We worked with the kids to garden, de-weeding as much as we could, painting the walls white for an artist in the future to paint what will hopefully me a sensational mural, and also painting the tyres and patio. We are also in the process of installing a motor for our well to be used to provide the plants with a much needed drink.

There are big plans for the this place, the most exciting being a marquee which will protect the people and plants from the sometimes unforgiving sun.

Palestinian resourcefullness is very useful in these times and ambition is what drives us. It is the beginning of a long process but it will inevitably look beautiful. Keep posted for further pictures!

Kids' visits to London

We're happy to confirm that we'll be running a young people's visit to London in late July. The visit will have a drama focus. More details will follow in the near future.

In relation to the football visit, we have a lot of the funding but we are looking for the rest... any help appreciated. We have therefore postponed the visit - it won't happen in late July but later in the year, if we can find the money. More on that too!

In the meantime, best of luck to all of you at Dar Assadaqa and hope you have a good summer.

With best wishes from Camden Abu Dis in London..

They were all really poets, but they just didn't know it

Today at the community centre, I tried to teach the kids poetry performance skills. With the help of some friends from Al-Quds university who are into their 'Def Poetry', I selected a piece from Ibrahim Nasrallah- poet, professor, painter and photographer. The poem beautifully spoke of desires for freedom, stemming from the disenfranchisement of the occupation.

At first, given that it was not in Arabic, many of the young lads' bravado got the better of them and they were unwilling to recite the poetry- at least without any feeling. I quickly thought of a way that they could create their own poetry by using Acrostics to write their name and describe themselves with the letters. My favourites- D for Dogs (there are many dog fans in Abu Dis) and L for love (and many cassanovas too it seems).

By the end of the class, the young boys had created their own poems and were reciting them in front of their peers. All deserve a well earned pat on the back!

Homework Club launched

As part of one of our projects, we have set up a 'Homework Club' which aims to help students from the different schools and University with any work relating to English. But It also provides help with students who may have to fill in scholarship forms in English, covering letters or help with conversational skills if they may have a job interview etc.

The are posted in the university and schools in Abu-Dis

What is unique about the initiative is that all the help is on a one-to-one basis and because of this, we can work with students to identify their mistakes, explain why they are not right and correct them together. So far we have attracted a few students but with publicity going up in all the schools, hopefully the service will become even more popular!

Drama at Dar Assadaqa

Dar Assadaqa serves at the central meeting point for many young women and men in Abu-Dis. The nonchalent attitude of the hard workers in the centre allow for people to drop in and out to join the many activities that are going on. Today was our turn (Tanzil and Ed) to host drama and conversational classes. We kicked of with some warm up games, which the kids were quickly absorbed by. Then we encouraged the children to create a story that they would then improvise a scene from. The pictures below show the results.

We also developed a one to one session looking at some texts that students had written, going through, explaining and correcting mistakes they had made. In addition, we ran a small workshop which developed conversational skills which was rounded of with a free discussion on the implications of modern technology in society. The students soon realised that even with a limited vocabulary, they were able to tease out very sophisticated points. A few points included 'technology holds the key to the door of both heaven and hell'  and that technology, eventhough it is vitally important, needs to be regulated by both the government and ourselves.

We also organised some fun activities with the younger kids that, despite the heat, were fun for all.

تعليم الرياضيات Teaching Maths

Teaching Maths

In England ...... and in Palestine

How we make sure children learn maths

Saturday April 28^th 2012

10-12 + afternoon computer workshop

Dar AsSadaqa

Sybil Cock (CADFA Volunteer)

· Presentation

· Questions

· Computer programmes for maths – Autograph in Arabic!

· Activity based learning

· Textbooks and Resources

تعليم الرياضيات

باللغة الانجليزية ..... في فلسطين

كيف نتأكد من أن أولادنا يتعلمون الرياضيات

السبت 28 نيسان 2012

من الساعة 10-12+ في المساء ورشة عمل للكمبيوتر

بإشراف الأستاذة سيبل كوك ( متطوعة من كامدن)

· المحاضرات المرئية

· الأسئلة

· برامج الكمبيوتر في الرياضيات – العربي

· فعاليات التعليم

· الكتب التعليمية والمصادر

مشروع المتطوعين من فلسطين

الاصدقاء الاعزاء

نود في جمعية صداقة كامدن أبوديس أن نبلغكم بأن الجمعية حصلت على مشروع جديد لايفاد متطوع من ابوديس للعمل في كامدن لندن وعليه فاننا نرجو ممن تتوفر فيهم الشروط في الاعلان المرفق التوجه الى دار الصداقة

Volunteer place in London

CADFA EVS project to London

CADFA are happy to announce that we have secured funding in the first instance for one volunteer to work in London for three months in autumn 2012. This is part of the European Union EVS Scheme.The work will be to help CADFA’s work in a variety of ways – with general office work, talks, sales and support for link work with Palestine in schools, community centres etc. The volunteer will stay with a family in London. Food, transport costs and a small allowance will be provided.

We are looking for a volunteer aged under thirty who has

· a good understanding of the work of CADFA in Palestine and in London

· good English

· Clear ideas about what he/ she wants to learn from this experience

· Good ideas about ways to use this experience when he/ she returns to Palestine.

Applications in the form of a letter about yourself to: Abdulwahab Sabbah, Dar Assadaqa, Abu Dis.

Closing date is 30^th April 2012.

تحية للجميع

نود في البداية ان نتقدم بالشكر للمتطوعين من المجموعة الثانية الذين سيغادرون يوم السبت القادم بعد ان قضوا فترة ثلاث شهور في العمل معنا في مؤسسات ومدارس ابوديس وفي دار الصداقة
كذلك اود ان أبلغ كل اصدقائنا بان المجموعة الثالثة من المتطوعين ستكون في ابوديس يوم الاحد 1 نيسان نرحب بهم ونتمنى لهم اقامة مفيدة وممتعه في ابوديس، سيحضر معهم مجموعة من المتضامنين من اصدقائنا في كامدن حيث سيكون هناك جولة في ارجاء الوطن لمدة اسبوع وسيشاركون في مؤتمر التوأمة السابع الذي سيعقد في مدنية جنين.
نرحب بمشاركة الجميع

Dar Assadaqa – 20/03/2012

Yesterday at Dar Assadaqa I had a class with 20 young men about the environment in

Palestine. On the timetable for Dar Assadaqa there is a slot for the environment. But I

think in the case of Abu Dis the best way to use this time is to establish an environment

club that actually works pro-actively to make Abu Dis a better place to live. Over the

course of an hour, we developed a plan to improve the environment in and around Abu

Dis.

The first step was to build on what was discussed by the previous group of EVS

volunteers. Getting a list of names of people who come to Dar Assadaqa who would be

interested in being part of the environment club. Secondly, we decided that something

should be done about the all the rubbish in the streets and that we could arrange a time

to clean the main street in Abu Dis or university street to start with. We also agreed it

would be good to buy some seeds from the shop in Azariya/ Bethany and plant trees

such as pine and olive trees. No-one really knew where we could plant these trees but it certainly left us with food for thought.

The other important tenet of improving the environment, not just in Abu

Dis but in Palestine generally, was green education. We came up with the idea to teach

about the environment in schools because it hardly ever gets taught about in schools.

Everyone concurred that the most of effective way of persuading people to change their

attitudes was to begin with young people. There was a good idea by one of the lads to

ask someone from Al Quds university who studies the environment to give a talk at

schools in Abu Dis. Finally, we suggested we should write to the Ministry of Agriculture

in Ramallah to ask for some sort of project support.

The land is very important to people in Palestine, Palestinians take great pride farming

their land and growing their olive trees. The occupation is the main cause of

environmental degradation, as a result of the Israelis using Palestinian areas as a

rubbish dump, and a place where waste sewage from settlements collects. Water

appropriation from wells and aquifers on Palestinian land by the authorities is also a

huge problem. And of course there are no services such as rubbish collection.

However, I think by changing many peoples’ attitude toward the environment in Abu

Dis could make it a more beautiful place. In addition, we all shared the view that

protection and greater respect for the environment is an effective form of

resistance to the occupation that will have a positive impact on the lives of all

Palestinians.

from CADFA volunteer March 2012

Dar Assadaqa – 20/03/2012

Yesterday at Dar Assadaqa I had a class with 20 young men about the environment in

Palestine. On the timetable for Dar Assadaqa there is a slot for the environment. But I

think in the case of Abu Dis the best way to use this time is to establish an environment

club that actually works pro-actively to make Abu Dis a better place to live. Over the

course of an hour, we developed a plan to improve the environment in and around Abu

Dis.

The first step was to build on what was discussed by the previous group of EVS

volunteers. Getting a list of names of people who come to Dar Assadaqa who would be

interested in being part of the environment club. Secondly, we decided that something

should be done about the all the rubbish in the streets and that we could arrange a time

to clean the main street in Abu Dis or university street to start with. We also agreed it

would be good to buy some seeds from the shop in Azariya/ Bethany and plant trees

such as pine and olive trees. No-one really knew where we could plant these trees but it certainly left us with food for thought.

The other important tenet of improving the environment, not just in Abu

Dis but in Palestine generally, was green education. We came up with the idea to teach

about the environment in schools because it hardly ever gets taught about in schools.

Everyone concurred that the most of effective way of persuading people to change their

attitudes was to begin with young people. There was a good idea by one of the lads to

ask someone from Al Quds university who studies the environment to give a talk at

schools in Abu Dis. Finally, we suggested we should write to the Ministry of Agriculture

in Ramallah to ask for some sort of project support.

The land is very important to people in Palestine, Palestinians take great pride farming

their land and growing their olive trees. The occupation is the main cause of

environmental degradation, as a result of the Israelis using Palestinian areas as a

rubbish dump, and a place where waste sewage from settlements collects. Water

appropriation from wells and aquifers on Palestinian land by the authorities is also a

huge problem. And of course there are no services such as rubbish collection.

However, I think by changing many peoples’ attitude toward the environment in Abu

Dis could make it a more beautiful place. In addition, we all shared the view that

protection and greater respect for the environment is an effective form of

resistance to the occupation that will have a positive impact on the lives of all

Palestinians.

Learning traditional dabkeh beats at the music center in Abu Dis

Tour of the music center in Abu Dis

Yesterday in Dar Assadaqa some of us went to the music center opposite the central mosque in

Abu Dis. The building was renovated with money from Kuwait and musical instruments were donated by France.

- 10/03/2012 Dar Assadaqa Saturday

Today many of the kids were at school because they had an extra day off a week or so

ago. However a healthy and manageable number turned up. A couple of us (the

volunteers) made Mothers Day cards using coloured card, paper and felt tip pens. We

also helped some of the older boys to improve their reading English skills by asking

them to read aloud to us and then correcting their mistakes. I feel exhausted after

spending most of the morning playing football with the boys (or ‘shabab’ in Arabic!). It

was hard to make sure everyone was included because some people are goal

hoggers! You can’t blame them though, all of the boys playing either supports Real

Madrid or Barcelona. So naturally they see themselves as their favourite strikers,

either Messi or Christiano, Ronaldo depending on your politics!

In the afternoon we played chess and did some English conversation with a couple of

the older boys. Most of the young ones went home so the 3 that were left played

games on the computer.

The weather was also nice and hot. Palestinian weather is truly unpredictable. Only

last week there was snowfall in Abu Dis and the snow even settled in Jerusalem!

New volunteers - in April!

New volunteers! Have a good time everyone

Really sorry John isn't in this picture ... but probably in the next ones...