“Losing freedom is a global epidemic,” by Waleed Daqqa.
Our message for this month is not different from others, but it contains words from Waleed Daqqa, a Palestinian writer and freedom fighter, who spent 37 years of his life in the colonial apartheid regime jail. He was abandoned from treatment for illness and waited a long time to meet his newborn daughter, ‘Milad’, which means birth.
Waleed was executed inside the colonial apartheid regime jails, along with 250 other Palestinian prisoners. Once, Waleed wrote when describing the prison, “The colonial apartheid regime is trying to occupy the minds, to imprison the thoughts. It’s hard to be mentally healthy when they are around you all the time, trying to occupy your mind. It’s hard to keep yourself safe from these thoughts, but it’s the only way of resistance inside that place where your body is kept but your soul and your brain are free enough to fight for another round.”
Waleed passed away on the 7th of April 2024. Finally, Waleed found his endless freedom. One of his last wishes was to be able to hug his daughter Milad, to hold her hands, or to have a few hours of talking with her. Waleed is not the only one.
Health Unit
- This month, community health workers conducted 100 visits to various patients suffering from chronic diseases (such as hypertension and diabetes), totaling 128 patients from the Aida and Al-Azza refugee camps.
- During these home visits, health workers check blood pressure, blood sugar, and other vital signs. They emphasize the importance of taking medications at the correct doses and times, according to the plan developed for them, and they provide continuous follow-up. They also listen attentively to patients, which sometimes extends the visit time to an hour or more, especially in these difficult circumstances that have affected patients psychologically, emotionally, socially, and economically. The visits continue for patients who have previously experienced health setbacks, with intensified monitoring of their conditions and, at times, adjustments to their medications and the establishment of programs to improve their health.
- Two visits were conducted for each Level 2 and Level 1 patient with hypertension and diabetes, and one visit for Level 3 patients during this month. Efforts are made to control their conditions by providing necessary medications, adjusting their diet, and encouraging them to exercise at Lajee’s gym. The visits to the patients are to provide psychological support alongside health monitoring.
Environmental Unit
April activities of the Environmental Unit included:
- Harvesting green leafy vegetables (such as Swiss chard, parsley, and mint) and distributing them to the patients.
- Ensuring daily monitoring of water levels, acidity, and the availability of nutrients sufficient for each hydroponic system.
- Watering flowers and agricultural crops.
- Cultivating hydroponic systems in plastic houses with summer crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, Swiss chard, zucchinis, radishes, and beans.
- Weekly environmental activities with environmental club students, including installing water towers after cleaning and planting them with Swiss chard, cleaning plastic houses, removing damaged crops, and cleaning the exterior surface.
- Monitoring and supervising the thirty hydroponic towers after distributing them to the patients, and adding fertilizer to crops.
- Working on planting seeds to produce microgreens with environmental club students and explaining the process and its benefits.
- Planting parsley seeds for hydroponic cultivation and distributing some to patients for planting in their own hydroponic towers.
Lajee Library
Route Description Activity
Children were asked to describe the route from their homes to school and what they see. Children aged 6 and 7 observed cars, traffic signals, and road congestion, while others noticed walls, trees, dogs, and cats. Afterward, we narrated a story, conducted an art activity based on it, and let the children play freely with the games available in the library.
Palestinian Children’s Day Activities
We discussed the importance of Children’s Day with a group of 6-year-old children, writing the most important rights on cards and explaining the children’s rights. An artistic activity using watercolors was done to express the children’s inner feelings.
Conducting a session for a group of 12-year-olds about children’s rights, discussing what the children in Gaza endure with brutality and killings, writing slogans on paper for them and children around the world.
Story Discussion Activity
We discussed the story “Nami, Ya Zena” with 14 children. We talked with the children about their rooms at home, their characteristics in terms of space and colors, whether the room is shared or individual. They all participated in the discussion, and then we read the story, discussed it, and the children drew and colored their rooms and played with puzzles and chess available in the library.
Migration Film
Watching a film titled “Migration” (a cartoon for children) and discussing: What does migration mean and what causes it? Where do people or birds migrate to? What are the types of migration? We discussed types of migratory birds, when they migrate, and where, as well as Palestinian birds and the Palestinian sunbird. We also talked about Bedouins when they move to another place within Palestine to feed their sheep. We discussed the migration journey of ducks.
Protection Team Meeting
The first meeting of the Protection Team consisted of 8 children, 4 boys, and 4 girls, aged 13 and 14, from Aida camp and neighboring areas, in partnership with the International Movement for Children’s Rights. The meeting was introductory about the program and the workshops that will be held for children over two years in Bethlehem and areas of the West Bank.
First Electronic Return Competition
As part of the ongoing Nakba events at Lajee Center, in partnership with Badil Center and the Global Network of Palestinian Refugees, the first electronic return competition for young boys and girls aged 10-15 was launched through Lajee Center’s page on Facebook throughout the blessed month of Ramadan. The competition included sixty questions on Palestinian political history, geography, as well as Palestinian writers and scientists. About two hundred boys and girls from Aida and Al-Azza camps participated in this competition. A daily drawing was conducted for two questions and then an announcement was made of the winning sixty boys and girls from both camps.
Lajee Music Institute
The teachers of Lajee Music Institute continued the theoretical and practical lessons in oud, qanun, percussion, and violin for the music students. In addition, choir lessons were held for the vocal students.
Zahrat al-Yasmeen Kindergarten
The kindergarten organized a recreational trip for the children with the aim of changing the atmosphere for the children, especially in light of the political conditions and the war they are experiencing.
Palestinian Prisoner’s Day
On 17 April, Lajee Center employees participated in commemorating Palestinian Prisoner’s Day in Bethlehem’s Manger Square, in cooperation with national and local institutions.
Children from Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten were also part of the event, where they raised Palestinian flags and pictures of prisoners, and sang the national anthem, expressing their support for the cause of Palestinian prisoners.
Rebel Circus School
The Circus school continued the circus training for the two groups and focused on aerial techniques.
Lajee-Celtic
Lajee-Celtic continued the regular training sessions for the youth and the children of the academy. The coaches organized two friendly matches between the Beit Sahour team and Lajee-Celtic as part of skill development for the youth.
ACLAI Palestine
The number of visits to the gym during the month of April was 334 visits.
This is a video of a success story for one of the gym beneficiaries, Mr. Mousa Zboun:
Dabkeh (Folklore Dance)
Lajee Center continued the dabkeh training for the different groups of students.
