Emergency Programs

Emergency Programs

Lifting the Load of the Children of the Jenin Refugee Camps

Funding Partners:
Phase One: The British Consulate;
Phase Two: The British Consulate, Canada Fund, and Caritas.
Duration: April 24th – August 1st
Budget: $50,000

Summary: Numerous countries responded to the tragedy of the Jenin Refugee Camp with donations of foreign aid. Countless shipments of food, medicine, blankets and mattresses reached the camp. But this focus on basic needs overlooked one group of victims: the children.

The children of Jenin began to search. Search for their personal belongings among the rubble and debris; search for their families among the hundreds of displaced; search for their lost childhood and stolen happiness. A tremendous load was placed upon the young children of the Jenin Refugee Camp. MA’AN Development Center wanted to conduct a program that helped to lift this burden.

Children from grades 1-6 were given a backpack in the first phase of the project. Inside was a pair of jeans, a uniform blue shirt, a school apron (for girls), three pairs of underwear, three undershirts, three pairs of socks, a sweat suit, and stationary supplies. While the happiness of the children was a reward in itself, children who did not receive a package were disappointed and confused.

Fortunately, MA’AN was able to extend the scope of the project with additional financing from Cartias and Canada Fund. This partnership enabled MA’AN to distribute backpacks to all the schoolchildren in Jenin from grades 1-9.

During the second phase of the project MA’AN also distributed a care package to parents of handicapped children in the camp. The packages consisted of milk, diapers, toothpaste, shampoo and other supplies. The handicapped are sometimes stigmatized to the point where parents will lie about their child’s condition out of shame. This was the first project from any organization to target the handicapped and disabled. Those with serious disabilities, such as paraplegics, were especially targeted through the program.

The project was implemented successfully. The community as a whole was pleased with the distribution, particularly the degree of coordination involved. It was well-organized: sizes of children were taken into consideration, as was the composition of classes and grades. MA’AN’s project coordinator, Nawal Estatiti, reported from Jenin that the clothes distributed through the program are being worn by the children. Their happiness was evident from the smiles and laugher that greeted the distribution.