Habala: Smiles despite the wall with support from PRCS

Qalqilya- Little Sama stood without any hesitation in front of alarge crowd with her hands spread towards the sky, praying for her mother whowas watching her silently. Through this beautiful folkloric performance, Samaand all her classmates from the third grade at Habala elementary school forgirls brought smiles to the faces of their mothers and teachers.

Students from the elementary school in Habala, a calm town locatedto the South of Qalqilya, brought joy to their town worn out by the Wall duringa ceremony organised by their school in cooperation with PRCS on the occasionof the International Women’s Day. As soon as Sama and her friends finishedtheir performance, Joulan, another young student, led her friends on the stagewhere they performed a Palestinian Dabkeh dance, wearing Palestinian Keffieh(Hatta) and the PRCS emblem, mixing humanity with heritage.

During the ceremony which was attended by around 200 women and childrenas well as by officials from civil society organisations, several recreationaland educational performances were presented in which students expressed theirlove for their mothers and teachers, to whom they then distributed flowersoffered by PRCS. Outstanding mothers and teachers were also honoured at thisceremony held in cooperation with the civil society and with support from thePsycho-Social Support Programme implemented by PRCS in cooperation with theMinistry of Education.

Samer, Iman and Margaret as well as their colleagues from PRCS’s Psycho-SocialSupport Centre in Qalqilya, worked with students, teachers and parents ofstudents enrolled at Habala High School for girls.They also organised workshops, courses and activities targeting students in thefifth and sixth grades as well as their teachers and parents aimed at buildingconfidence, enhancing tolerance and promoting safe play.

According to Jalal Odeh, coordinator of PRCS’s Psycho-Social Team inQalqilya, “In addition to these workshops and activities targeting students,teachers and parents, the programme created over the past three yearscommunity-based committees to provide support to students and teachers as wellas material support to the school itself to improve its condition. The programmefocuses on providing support to schools and promoting psycho-social support especiallyin areas affected by the Wall. It is currently being implemented in 53 schoolsin Qalqilya as well as in 5 other schools in Tulkarem”.

Once the program ends in a particular school, Jalal and hiscolleagues continue implementing and following up on psychosocial activities,ensuring continuous communication between the school and the local communitythrough the above-mentioned committees.

Maysoon Jal’oud, Headmistress, said that this activity wasimplemented with support from the local community in Habala and is the resultof experiences gained through cooperation between teachers, students, parents andPRCS psychosocial workers. “We have gained a lot both morally and materiallythanks to the recreational, artistic and educational activities implemented.Conditions in our school have improved, recreational space and sport activitieswere added and restrooms were rehabilitated. The programme has enabled us tostrengthen ties with local institutions in Habala. Committees were alsoestablished to support these ties, positively impacting the morale of ourstudents, teachers and parents”. She affirmed that relations between studentsand teachers have changed dramatically: Psychosocial workers have enhanced tiesbetween teachers and students thanks to the courses they have attended. Theseties are now built on mutual respect and appreciation, she said.

Joulan, who is nine years old, said: “I love PRCS because it made melove my teachers more. It also implemented many activities and brought gamesand gave us prizes. Today, it gave us the opportunity to tell our teachers andmothers that we love them”. As she was distributing flowers to mothers andteachers, Joulan added that psychosocial workers have made her life at school betterthanks to recreational activities and open days. They also gave her and herfellow students a chance to express their needs and demands through theirdrawings.

The primary school-based psychosocial support program is implementedby PRCS’s Psychosocial support Department in cooperation with the PalestinianMinistry of Education in Toubas, Qalqilya, Jaba’a, Hebron, Tulkarem and EastJerusalem since 2003. It targets children in the fifth and sixth grades, theirteachers and parents as well as the local community.