It’s a round-up, thankfully of a very positive nature. Our partners on the ground have started work on our third kindergarten, in the Tel Rumeida area of the Old City of Hebron.  Last week, the tireless Hamed Qawasmeh, rounded up a team of volunteers from Hebron, and started work clearing the area around the structure that will eventually be used as the kindergarten. No time to rest though – Hamed and the team are coming back this Friday to continue clearing the site. Leichhardt Friends of Hebron held a trivia night fundraiser in February (2013) to raise money for this project. Click here to read more about the project and to see where the funds are going to.

We’re also pleased to announce that work has continued on the Um Al Khair kindergarten, the first project we worked on in 2009. Our partners on the ground ensure that the projects we commit to are sustainable and have long-term benefits for the community. Despite the myriad of challenges faced by this community, work has continued on the kindergarten building. Excluded from the master plan, the community cannot access the water or electricity that is on the grid. Read here how the community was able to overcome this hurdle.

Once again, we thank you for your ongoing support. The children and communities we support undergo a lot of stress and trauma, in some instances just to get to school. The most recent instance of this was last month, when 29 children were arrested on their way to school, some as young as seven. No parents or lawyers were present at their interrogation and as of the 26th March, three children were still being held. You can find the details to this story here.