“To break the rules,
I have learned all the words needed for a trial by blood.
I have learned and dismantled all the words
in order to draw from them a single word: Homeland…”
by Mahmoud Darwish
I am from there, that place full of memories, our homeland, the land that we have never met, but we will meet one day. March 2024 has never changed, going back to the 27th of March 1948 until today, Palestinians have been suffering from systematic genocide, displacement, and ethnic cleansing.
March has always been the month of spring in Palestine, filled with flowers covering the brown soil and the sweet smell of tree blossoms. However, this year, it has become a month marked by bloodshed, staining the soil of Palestine in Gaza and the West Bank. March has traditionally been a time to honor our enduring resilience and ongoing resistance, particularly celebrating the roles of women, Palestinian mothers, and Palestine itself, which is like a mother to everyone.
On March 8th, the entire world celebrates International Women’s Day. In Palestine, we remember our heroic women who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of this land and spent years in prison. More than 9,220 women have lost their lives in Gaza, and another 71 are currently in prison. We commemorate Amal Al-Barmeel, one of the Palestinian freedom fighters from Dir-Aban, who was born and raised in Aida camp and who died for this land on December 31st, 1990.
This month is dedicated to honoring our resilient mothers, the pillars of strength who have always provided a safe haven. March 21st marks Palestinian Mother’s Day, a time to celebrate these remarkable women who have patiently awaited the return of their children, standing unwaveringly on the front lines to defend them. Being Palestinian is to be protected by the fierce love of a mother who transforms into a lioness for her beloved.
During this March, more than 20,000 mothers anxiously await the release of their children from prison. In this month, many mothers bid farewell to their children with tears and smiles, promising to reunite soon, unable to bear being apart from their souls. It is a month that belongs to everyone in Aida camp, including Mother and Grandmother Maziona, who has been waiting for Nasser’s release for 31 years.
This month is dedicated to commemorating our six heroes: Khair, Raja, Khader, Khadijah, Mouhseen, and Rafat. They lost their lives defending their rights to their land on March 29, 1976, when the Israeli government, led by Isaac Rabin, decided to confiscate 21,000 dunums of Palestinian land in the northern region to build apartheid colonies and roads. Since that day, every March 30th is recognized as Palestinian Land Day, a time when we educate and instill the importance of rootedness in this land.
Lajee-Celtic (click to view video)
Throughout this month, we maintained our regular training sessions for the Lajee-Celtic academy and the youth team. Additionally, we organized two events for both groups. One event featured a match between the youths of Lajee Celtic and the Beit Sahour Football Academy, aimed at enhancing the football skills of the children in the Lajee Celtic youth team. Another event involved a sports activity for the academy’s children, which included challenges and fun games with another team in Aida camp. Furthermore, this month saw the official renaming of Aida Celtic to Lajee-Celtic, a name that represents every refugee in Palestine and beyond.
ACLAI Palestine
We began this month with an event for the women participants at the gym. We organized breakfast and an open discussion session on the rooftop of the Lajee Center, which included a conversation about EU conditional funding.
Throughout this month, we had over 300 visits to the gym.
Lajee Library
We organized a competition for children aged 10-15, which commenced on the first day of Ramadan, March 11, and will continue until April 9. The First Return Competition consists of two questions each day, aiming to enhance the children’s sense of belonging, knowledge and national culture. This competition is part of the Nakba activities and includes questions about the political history of Palestine, geography, and Palestinian literature.
We continued our regular meetings and activities with the children and youth at the library:
- March 1st: Activity for the library group aged 5 and 6, with nineteen children in attendance, along with Bethlehem University students. An artistic activity was conducted, followed by presenting a story to the children for an hour.
- March 2nd: Activity for the students of Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten to discuss the story of chamomile, thyme, and marjoram. The children learned about the benefits of thyme and marjoram plants and other flowers like mint and parsley. They also learned about their scent and distinguishing them from other plants and their medicinal uses.
- March 3rd: Activity for the first grade at Aida Girls’ School, with 29 girls in attendance. The activity began with engaging the students through a song about letters and performing movements with them. Then, the story titled “My Letters” was read, which talks about each letter and words associated with it. Afterwards, worksheets were distributed for coloring the letters.
- March 3rd: Activity for the second grade at Aida Girls’ School, with thirty students in attendance. The activity involved discussing the story titled “Salma’s Letters.” It started with a question about the mechanism of transferring messages in the past and present, such as carrier pigeons, mail, and later telecommunications and the internet. The story was read, followed by a discussion with the class. There was significant interaction among them, and a writing activity of letters to their friends, teacher, parents was conducted.
- March 8th: Activity for a group of 8-year-old children: Palestinian Cities video. The children watched the video and learned about Palestinian cities. They were asked to draw a map of Palestine, but as they struggled, printed maps were distributed to them. Then, the cities were labeled on the map.
- March 8th: Activity for a group of 5 and 6 years old children: reading and discussing the story “My Letters” followed by a coloring activity of the letters.
- March 15th: Meeting with Bethlehem University students, reading a story with the children, followed by a physical activity. Afterwards, the children drew and colored pictures related to the holy month of Ramadan.
- March 20th: Story workshop with Amahl Bishara: A meeting was held with the children’s group to complete illustrations for the story. The meeting lasted for an hour and a half, with seven children attending.
- March 22nd: Discussion of the story “Sangooba Feels Happy.” Concepts of sadness, happiness, and anger were discussed with the children, talking about emotions. Then, the children drew the expression on their faces during the activity.
- March 30th: We held a dialogue session with children aged 10-15 focusing on Palestinian land.
Lajee’s Media Unit
The media unit at the Lajee Center conducted an intensive photography course for students from Aida Girls’ Elementary School. The course began with a comprehensive introductory session, where the students learned the basics of photography, including principles, different angles, camera parts, its importance in artistic photography, and a brief overview of its history.
Following that, in the second session, a field outing was organized with the students to apply what they had learned in the theoretical session. Cameras were distributed to them, encouraging them to capture images that convey specific concepts previously discussed.
The course concluded with a third and final session, where the students presented the photos they had taken for discussion. The photos were reviewed based on the criteria they had learned, including composition, lighting, and perspective, allowing for exchange of opinions and learning from the practical experience. This session provided an opportunity for the students to showcase their creativity and receive advice and guidance to enhance their photography skills.
Health and Environment Unit
- During this month, community health workers visited 140 patients in Aida and Al-Azza camps suffering from chronic diseases (hypertension and diabetes).
- During these home visits, health workers check blood pressure and blood sugar levels, ensure proper medication intake according to the prescribed doses and schedules, continuously monitor them, especially during Ramadan. They also provide attentive listening, which sometimes extends the visit time to an hour or more, particularly in these difficult circumstances that have impacted patients psychologically, emotionally, socially, and economically. They continue to visit patients who have previously experienced health setbacks and intensively monitor their conditions, sometimes adjusting their medications and creating programs to improve their health.
- The community health workers conducted two visits for each level 2 and level 1 patients with hypertension and diabetes, and one visit for level 3 patients during this month. They work on controlling the conditions by providing necessary medications, adjusting their diet, and encouraging them to engage in sports at the Lajee gym. During these visits, they provide psychological support alongside health monitoring.
- Organizing activities for the children of Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten including environmental activities such as explaining parts of plants, accompanying them on a visit to Lajee’s rooftop, providing advice on waste collection and not littering, watching a video about cleanliness, and garbage disposal in front of the center.
- Arranging a health discharge activity for the patients at the Peace Park including a health lecture on various health topics such as insulin and medication schedules during Ramadan, vitamin D, infections, and other topics, in addition to physical activities, competitions, and distributing pastries for breakfast to participants.
- Coordinating with occupational therapy students at Bethlehem University and with eight families, including individuals with disabilities from Aida and Al-Azza camps, to provide various services according to each person’s needs and accompany them to their homes to assist them in obtaining personal information.
- Harvesting green leafy vegetables such as Swiss chard, spinach, mustard greens, lettuce, parsley, onions, and mint, as well as peas and radishes, and distributing them to the patients.
- Draining water systems in plastic houses and cleaning them from winter crops for replanting with summer crops.
- Weekly environmental activities with environmental club students, including compost formation and placing it in a soil-filled agricultural basin, cleaning plastic houses and removing damaged crops, and cleaning the exterior surface.
- Installing hydroponic towers for 30 patients after distributing them to them, ensuring their operation and readiness, and planting seedlings in them such as lettuce, parsley, and mint.
- Monitoring the distributed hydroponic towers regularly and adding fertilizer after testing the water.
- Distributing approximately 12 kg of produced crops from the greenhouses.
- Planting seeds of radishes, zucchinis, beans, and Swiss chard.
Rebel Circus School
- Conducting continuous circus training sessions for the circus students according to the proposed plan.
- Circus Trainers from Pallassos En Rebelida visiting our circus school from 7 to 11 March.
- March 8th: Start training for the students of the two groups with the Spanish circus trainers.
- March 9th: Training for the first group on aerial training.
- March 10th: Conducting a workshop for students from Beit Jala Girls’ School for fifth and sixth grades in the schoolyard with Spanish trainers and performing a diabolo show with another Spanish trainer after the workshop.
Zahrat al-Yasmeen Kindergarten
Organizing an event for Al-Eid at the Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten to celebrate Ramadan, including juice, atayef, children’s iftar, and a photo booth corner.
Women’s Unit
International Women’s Day event:
- Visiting UNRWA schools and honoring female teachers on International Women’s Day.
- Honoring female employees of Lajee Center.
Lajee Music Unit
The students of Lajee Music institute continued their lessons with their teachers:
- Five students are taking Oud lessons with Ms. Woroud.
- Six students are taking Qanoun lessons with Ms. Shahd.
- Six students are taking Percussion lessons with Ms. Wa’ad.
- Six students are taking Violin lessons with Mr. Bisher and Ms. Batool.
- Five students are taking Vocal lessons with Ms. Rania.
- Fourteen students are taking Theory lessons with Mr. Bisher.
