Visit 21th of September 2010

Br. Joe, Br, Andres and sr. Susan went to Gaza for our first fall visit. It was a blistering hot day. Yet our welcome was a nice relief from the heat and cold drinks accompanied us as we visited three schools and one women's center. Sabah met us at the boarder as usual and we visited the Al Arabia School where the children were hard at work. Due to the end of Ramadan being in the middle of the month the schools began only last week. The children of this School had no uniforms as this area is very poor. So far 120 had registered and more were expected.

The second school also in the north was the Amjad School. Here the children had lovely uniforms and they were made locally bring the price down to 40 IS each. We saw the nice work books and story books that they had purchased for the children and teachers. One hundred and fifty children are already registered at this school so that a store room has become a classroom. It has a tin roof and was stifling; they need a different roof badly.

The Zahar School was the third which is in the poor section of Gaza City.
Some of the children were outdoors playing. This school is in real need of new tables as the ones they have are too low even for the youngest. This school has become a center for family services complete with a social worker and councilors. Due to this they will limit there number of children to 100 this year. In this post war period the students and their parents often need counseling.

Album Picasa (96 photos)