The Palestine Red Crescent puts a smile on halima’s face and her fellow orphans in qalqilya

Margret Al Ra’i, a psychosocial worker at the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), personifies joy and hope for orphaned children in Qalqilya. Her ever-present smile, the toys and stories she carries, bring color to the lives of the twenty-eight orphaned children who reside at Dar Al Iman Home Care for orphans; twenty-eight children with big dreams seeking new windows of hope that might rescue them from their family-less lives.

Halima, Hadeel, Ibrahim, Ghadeer, Ra’fat and their friends have found hope, a new smile and an outlet for creativity with Margret and her colleagues, Jalal, Samer and Iman from the PRCS Psychosocial Health Department in Qalqilya.

As Mary (the name friends and colleagues call Margret) walks into the orphanage’s courtyards, Grandma Im Anas and her husband Abu Anas, (as they are known to the children), rush to welcome and invite her in before the kids see her. And as she walks into the building, all twenty-eight kids, ranging in age from 5 to 14years old, jump to greet her with hugs fit for parents, and accompany her to the courtyard eager to share what they have with her. Attending supervisors are no different from the kids; Jenan, Kalthoum, Zeinab and Wafa race to welcome Mary and are as keen to share the fun, joy and information she has.

Naturally, this emotionally warm relationship between the PRCS and Dar Al Iman did not come out of the blue; it is the result of six months of continuous interaction. Mary and her colleagues knocked on the closed doors of an orphanage and walked into the heavy hearts of its residents. She has become a warm heart and hugs to them, the ear that listens to their problems, the hand that wipes tears even before they fall and the “magic box” that brings out long-hidden smiles and spreads a feeling of joy that was rarely felt before.

Magical smiles settle on the children’s faces as “aunt” Mary, as they like to call her, starts to share what she has with them, utilizing the vast experience she has accumulated in her psychosocial work to unearth and safeguard each smile. The moment she senses a problem with one of them, she will take him/her to another room and using debriefing techniques in which she is a master, listens to and discusses the issue with them until they come out of the room with a smile on their face just like the others in the group.

Halima is an 8 year old girl at the orphanage, whose world like the others, before the arrival of the PRCS group, was confined to the orphanage premises and the school, and whose dreams did not go beyond the asphalt street that connected the two, and when they ranged further, only reached the next door grocery shop. Halima, whose eyes speak faster than her tongue, says that Mary and her colleagues have expanded the boundaries of their world and opened its doors to life through the educational and entertaining activities they run as well as the open days that are full of fun and joy. As she played with Lego blocks, Halima’s face impulsively gave expression to her feelings and those of her friends, when she was asked about how she felt before Aunt Mary came into their lives, her face gave way to such a cloud of sadness that her friends almost began to cry, despite the fact that her look was a feigned one. When asked how things have been since Aunt Mary arrived, a smile wider than the walls of the orphanage came over her face accompanied by huge applause from her friends who started shouting in approval and asking for more time with Aunt Mary and her colleagues.

The effects of Mary and her colleagues are not limited to smiles or solving troubles and concerns. They have also been manifest in the improvement of the children’s academic achievements. Ghadeer, a girl attending the 5th grade, indicated that her academic performance and grades have improved since the PRCS started working in Dar Al Iman. Yousef Nazzal, an administrator at the orphanage, reiterated the same findings. He praised the enormous efforts of the PRCS team and the support they give to the children, their supervisors and the administrator, as having significantly affected the children’s lives and those who care for them. According to Nazzal, Dar Al Iman (est. 1997) has been able, with the help of the PRCS team and specialists, to open its doors to the local community, to weave unique relationships with other organizations and break down the barriers with the outside world. He called upon the PNA and other relevant organizations to support Dar Al Iman, which relies on charitable donations, to help build a better future for Halima and her friends and to provide other orphans with the opportunity to be part of this place.

Jenan Jalal too, a supervisor at the orphanage, pointed out the positive impacts on the orphanage family of Margaret and her colleagues. Jenan’s interaction with the team has allowed her to gain new skills and knowledge, which have significantly affected her relationship with the children and her ability to work with their problems. Her colleague, Zeinab Awwad, mentioned the new positive attitude amongst the children in working out their issues and the close and positive relationships she and her colleagues have been able to develop with them, as well as how they have improved their professional methods of working with the children.

Margret, who has been working with the PRCS for five years, is visibly elated to see the joy on the children’s faces. She expressed her delight in the understanding and cooperation shown by the entire orphanage family, as well as she and her colleagues’ pride in the developments taking place there.

Finally, Jalal Odeh, the PRCS psychosocial department coordinator in Qalqilya, explained that the work taking place at the orphanage is part of a plan to foster relationships between the PRCS and other organizations in the district. This plan, according to Odeh, is part of a larger scheme that has been implemented by the PRCS in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in the districts of Tubas, Qalqilya, Jenin, Hebron, Tulkarem and Jerusalem since 2003. The scheme targets 5th and 6th grade students, their teachers, parents and the local communities and is supported by the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid.