For many years, people used to gather and help others in need. Whether to build a new home, renovate a mosque, paint a church or harvest the olives during the harvest season, this was, and still is, embedded in the Palestinians’ traditions and culture and is known as “Al Oneh” (Help). This help represents a form of cooperation, volunteerism and social solidarity.
“Ilna Youth Group” (Ours) consists of a number of individuals who are passionate, enthusiastic and loyal to their country and their people. The group visited a number of villages and did a quick needs assessment survey. Several factors affected their choice; the readiness of the citizens to contribute effectively to the project, focusing primarily on youth involvement, and the effect of the project on the community and peoples’ lives.
Deir Bzee’ was the selected village. It is a small marginalized village located to the west of Ramallah with an estimated population of 1200 people. Meetings were held with the citizens, especially the youth; to further identify the problems and needs of the village, as well as the prioritizing and planning on how to respond to them. The youth, along with their real partnership with the citizens, would implement their plan of action during a 10-day, voluntary summer camp.
“We should utilize our energy to develop and constantly improve and build on what we have. Youth can give and can positively change things to the better,” Moayad Khudeir, Ilna Group.
Accordingly, the help that was needed came in the form of building an extra classroom for the graduating class at the Deir Bzee’ School for Girls. In the past, if girls decided to continue their education, they needed to go to schools located in other villages. However, because of the occupation and the barriers located along the way, traveling to pursue their education was no longer an option. If not for the addition of an extra classroom, the journey for higher education for girls in Deir Bzee’ would end.
In addition to the local volunteers, youths traveled from Hebron, Bethlehem, Jenin, and Ramallah to share part of their summer vacation with a community in need. The Ministery of Education was also informed in the process and expressed its readiness by providing the required teachers needed and covering their salaries from the ministry’s budget. This collaboration brought a community and a country closer together. Those involved walked away with a greater sense of responsibility for their local community and their country as a whole.
“Naseej opened our eyes on the importance of engaging the youth and the community; this made them feel the ownership of the classroom they helped in building, every door they helped in painting and every tree they helped in planting,” Yara Odeh, Ilna Group.
Mohammad, better known to his fellow volunteers as “our architect,” was deeply affected by his experience with Al Oneh. As an architecture student at the university, he had a longing to apply himself to some kind of community involvement outside of school. However, he was unsure of what he wanted to do and did not know how or where to start. When ILNA contacted him, he took this as his opportunity.
Through Al Oneh, Mohammad found himself with like-minded young people who were enthusiastic about giving part of themselves to their country. With youth coming from almost every city in the West Bank, this created a new sense of hope in Mohammad. He realized that a small group of young people coming together to implement a simple and basic idea could make a very big difference in the lives of others. He also recognized that in order to make things happen you must take the initiative. His previous reluctance to step outside the narrow walls of his life was replaced with a new perspective without walls. As Mohammad put it, “…Al Oneh taught me that life is an experience and instead of limiting yourself to certain ideas and concepts, it is nice to come out of the box and try different things and sometimes take on an adventure.” This was a profound and life changing revelation for Mohammad.
Although Mohammad felt he had wasted many good years of his life not knowing how to give to his community or his country, he is now making up for lost time. To fulfill his degree requirement, his university expected him to serve at least 120 hours of community work. Before Al Oneh, Mohammad struggled with his fellow classmates to meet this requirement. However, a year and half after his experience in Dier Bzee’, Mohammad had served double the hours. He gives credit to Al Oneh. He is no longer a student exclusively seeking his degree certificate. He is now a student who knows how and enthusiastically wants to play a role in making his community and country a better place.
“Till this moment, every time I read about the graduation of a new group of girls, I feel so proud that I was part of Al Oneh,” Mutasim Abu Dakka, Ilna Group.
