Our 2008 News

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Faisal Husseini whom we remember struggling to defend Jerusalem. He asserted himself using his strong political presence in the heart of the city and his widespread and profound international respect to serve his besieged and divided city. He knew that the only real way to preserve Jerusalem would be for its people to live their lives in dignity. On one hand he encouraged efforts to build a better future, and on the other he physically opposed Israeli house demolition and land confiscation policies.

He stood by people through their miseries, overwhelming them with a sense of solidarity, highlighting their presence and their stories during officials’ visits to the Orient House. He reached out to the people of Jerusalem living outside of the city, beyond the effects of the siege, reminding them that they, too, could help Jerusalem and support its community from wherever they lived by supporting its institutions and organizations.

Faisal Husseini held a legendary dedicated willingness which motivates us, to remain loyal to his message and continue protecting and preserving the individuals, institutions, homes, schools, and hospitals of Jerusalem. This year, Jerusalemites were prohibited from holding the seventh annual commemoration ceremony of Faisal Husseini. However, the memory of Faisal Husseini remained strong in the minds and hearts of the people all over the world. This year the French President Nicolas Sarkozy during his visit to the region has sent the French Minister of Interior, Michele Elio Marie, to place a wreath in his name at Faisal Husseini’s resting place showing respect for the deceased as he was a man of principles, and showing solidarity to those who live by his principles.

With strong enthusiasm and high hopes for a promising future, the Foundation launched the new round of the Comprehensive School Upgrading Project which is elaborated later on in the newsletter. We would like to thank all the organizations supporting our education projects especially the European Union, Save the Children – Sweden, the Italian Government, and Palestinian Municipal Fund for their generous support which allowed for the development of our target schools and allowed for their academic visions to be realized and implemented. We would also like to thank the Organization of Islamic Conference, the Palestinian Investment Fund, the British Consulate, and the Palestinian National commission for Education Culture and Science for their contributions to our different education and youth projects.

Today, we would also like to remember the first individual to support and encourage us to move forward with the Foundation, the late Sheikh Tareq Al- Juffali, who silently committed himself to returning the smile to the faces of our children and our elders by supporting the Foundation’s first projects in health and education. His memory remains in our hearts. How could it not when we remember him every time we pass by a school he helped renovate, or a hospital in which he created a new ward, or a club in which he established an academic library. His influences will forever remain in the city of Jerusalem. May God bless his soul.

Abdelqader Al-Husseini
Chairperson of the Faisal Husseini Foundation

In this page, we will outline the activities and programs of the Faisal Al Husseini Foundation in the sectors of education, youth and health. These activities are meant, in addition to developing institutional performance, to reduce the costs of these institutions and to contribute to reducing the burdens on residents.

Education Sector

Youth Sector

Health Sector

Education Sector

Comprehensive School Upgrading Project

The Comprehensive School Upgrading Project aims at ensuring that all children in East Jerusalem enjoy their right to education in a protective and child-friendly environment.

The project more specifically aims at increasing the involvement and support of parents and guardians in their children’s education; improving the institutional capacity and physical environment of 8 schools in East Jerusalem and effectively engaging relevant duty-bearers in the change process (in particular, teachers and school management); strengthening the capacities of teachers in 4 core subjects (Mathematics, Arabic, English and Science) and ensuring that teachers practice interactive and modern teaching methods; and finally, improving the skills and achievements of students and empowering them to make and voice their choices and opinions about their education.

The two-year project is funded by the European Union and is being implemented in cooperation with Save the Children – Sweden.

The project targets eight schools, 153 teachers, 1,881 school children between the ages of 4-17 and 3,712 parents / guardians through activities to be implemented over two years. These schools are:

• Al-Nahda “A” – The Old City of Jerusalem
• Al-Nahda “B” – The Old City of Jerusalem
• St. Dimitri School – The Old City of Jerusalem
• St. Tarkmanchatz – The Old City of Jerusalem
• Dar Al-Awlad School (orphanage) – Wadi Al Jouz, Jerusalem
• Doha School – Wadi Al Jouz, Jerusalem
• Dar Al-Aytam “D” – Wadi Al Jouz, Jerusalem
• Omar Bin Khatab Boys School – Sour Baher, Jerusalem

I) Development of school vision workshop

In March, 2008, the project was inaugurated by a general vision development workshop that involved all of the eight schools top management representatives (principles, vice principles, etc.) including representatives from the supervision department at the Jerusalem Directorate of Education, as well as the administrative and project support team from the Faisal Husseini Foundation (FHF) including project consultants. The workshop consisted of a 3-hour session every week for six consecutive weeks.

During this phase of school vision development, the following general subjects were introduced and discussed aiming at creating an initial understanding of the project and the language used as well as clarifying the process involved in the development of individual school visions for each one of the participating schools:

General philosophy of educational excellence General organizational assessment principles General educational leadership principles First stage S.W.O.T Analysis Dreams, values and vision: from the individual to the organizational process Individual, group and organizational power elements

A full package of background professional as well as theoretical materials was distributed to all participants. Additionally, a “first run” S.W.O.T analysis comparing current vs. expected educational and general school practices and performances.

was conducted. The SWOT consistednof 15 different categories with 25 different items. The categories included:

Participants were asked to rate each item including the sub-general items of teaching practices, general professional competence and general professional commitment on a scale of 1-5 where 1 indicates and 5 . Participants were also asked to rate each item twice; the first time according to current or actual status and the second time according to the expected status. The following results are based on 7 returns: 5 from school principals and 2 from the educational supervision team.

Generally, there was a significant difference in most items between current and expected status. The total raw score for actual/current status was 584 and for the expected status 807 points. The average score for current status (all items) was 3.33 and 4.61 for the expected status. The biggest differences were found in the following categories: Safety and discipline (average score: 3.2), parents involvement (average score: 2.4), learning readiness (average score: 2.57), student centred teaching practices (average score: 2.85), general professional commitment (average score: 3.1), stability (average score: 3.2), and innovative school practices (average score: 3).

This work will be expanded in the future through intensive individual work with each school and using the consultants’ findings to form a wide and solid basis for the project objectives and intervention plans

II) Renovation

The Faisal Husseini Foundation has finished its renovation and maintenance work in five schools during the summer of 2008: St. Dimitri School, St. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School, Dar Al-Awlad School, Doha School and Nahda “B” school. Students played a very important role in the needs assessment process and the choice of colours for the paintings. The main aim of involving the students with the renovation decisions was to make the school environment amiable, safe and child friendly.

The renovation Included:

Installing new electricity wires in St. Dimitri School and upgrading from one phase to three phases. Installing a false ceiling to control the class acoustics. Renovating the toilets, fixing the classroom doors and windows, and painting the school.

The Foundation’s work in St. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School included redesigning of the ground floor to fit a library, a computer laboratory, a science laboratory, arts room and an extracurricular activity room, in addition to renewing and fixing the classroom doors and windows, and painting the school.

In Dar Al Awlad School the Foundation has renovated the bathrooms and fixed the leaking ceilings .The Foundation has also painted the school ,installed new water fountains ,and fixed the central heating boiler. At Al Doha school the Foundation has fixed the stairs at the school entrance, and also set up the school garden and made it safer for the children to play in. the Foundation has painted the school and renovated the bathrooms and the water fountains. At Al Nahda “B” teachers did not have a lounge or a teachers’ room so they spent their breaks standing in corridors. The Foundation has solved their problems by redesigning the school to fit a small room for teachers’ usage. The Foundation has also upgraded the electricity from one phase to three phases. The Foundation has also renovated the bathrooms and installed safety fencing around the school.

III) Provision of Facilities and Programs

The Foundation has provided the eight schools participating in the “comprehensive school upgrading program” with 60 computers, several projectors, printers, and faxes.

At the beginning of the school year 2008/2009 the Foundation has installed a special computer software program for the school administrations. In addition, the first stage of need assessment concerning teacher training has been completed. The Foundation has begun the two-year teacher training project which aims at transforming the educational process from one that is teacher centred to one that is student centred. Saturday School Program This project targeted 70 to 75 students from the fourth to ninth grades from several schools with poor to average scores. Funded by the Italian Cooperation/ Italian Grants, the project aimed at strengthening these students especially in mathematics and the English Language and it also offered a variety of extracurricular activities such as physical education, musical education and chess. It took place every Saturday from February until the end of March 2008 at Al-Fatah Al-Laji’a ‘A’ School in Jerusalem. The project was completed in March with successful results as students’ scores were generally raised.

Youth Sector

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The Faisal Husseini Youth Award (FHYA)

Programme First FHYA graduation

The first 26 participants to complete the FHYA program graduated in October 2007. The ceremony began with the Palestinian national anthem, followed by a speech by Abd-Alqader Husseini in which he spoke about the significance of the award and raised the importance of challenging the self.

He also spoke about the life of Faisal Husseini and the many challenges he faced personally and professionally. Mazen Jabari of the Youth Development Department then spoke explaining what the FHYA means and its value to today’s youth. Mr. Jabari’s speech was followed by several short speeches by the FHYA graduates in which they discussed the experiences they had through the award program. One of the graduates, Amer Maridi, performed a song he had written and composed himself.

The ceremony ended with a performance by the orchestra of the Edward Said Music Conservatory and a performance by the “Ouff Palestinian National Dance Group”.

The following is a list of the proud graduates:

Ahmad Sandouqa Rohieh Al-Joulani Ismail Arameen Sajida Hamada I’tidal Abu-Teen Sarah Abu-Halawa Amani Daoud Shhab D’eibes Ameera Al-Natsheh Amer Maridi Tamara Abu-Rumooz Faten Al-Joulani Tamara Shweiki Nadeem Jaber Rami Al-Jabari Fadi Zaloum	Nareeman Khweis Rami Miqdad Haya Burqan Rawan Gheith Yusef Hilwa	Jihad Al-Huroub Malek Atoun Hanin Al-Joulani Mutaz Al-Natsheh Du’a Al-Muhtaseb

Second recruiting potential FHYA participants

The Faisal Husseini Youth Award is an opportunity for Palestinian youth between the ages of 14-25 years to discover and develop their skills and personal capabilities by setting goals and challenging themselves through various programs. It also motivates and encourages young people to serve their communities by volunteering at local institutions. The FHYA team started receiving the third group of potential participants from selected schools participating in the Comprehensive School Upgrading Project. These schools are:

Al-Nahda “A” School – The Old City of Jerusalem St. Dimitri School – The Old City of Jerusalem St. Tarkmanchatz Armenian School – The Old City of Jerusalem Omar Bin Al-Khattab School – Sour Baher, Jerusalem Dar Al-Awlad School – Wadi Al-Joz, Jerusalem Dar Al-Aytam School “D” – Wadi Al- Joz, Jerusalem The program was presented and marketed to the students. Students who wish to participate were then interviewed by the FHYA team to confirm their understanding of the program as well as to ensure the students’ desire and commitment to the program. The Foundation also held a summer club for participants of the Faisal Husseini Youth Award, and organized an expedition camp for the Faisal Husseini Award participants. Details are available below

Third: The Faisal Husseini Youth Award Club

During the summer of 2008 the Foundation has finished the orientation phase of the third group of participants in the Faisal Husseini Youth Award summer club. The club aimed at orienting and developing the participants educationally, culturally and physically. The cultural programs included arts, music, dabka (traditional Palestinian dance) seminars; in addition to seminars aiming at enhancing the participants general knowledge in history philosophy, and the surrounding environment. Discussion groups were also held on conflicts around the world and participant also had the chance to watch documentaries on various humanitarian and environmental topics. This project was funded by the Italian Government and the European Union.

Fourth: Expedition camps/ Faisal Husseini Youth Award

The Foundation managed two expedition camps during August 2008. The program was the first of its kind in the country as it introduced participants to the field of Astronomy using two different kinds of telescopes and computer new software (Stellarium 0.9.1).

The program included activities led by a team from the Palestinian Civil Defence Department who volunteered its time to teach participants how to put out several kinds of fires, and who also led them through an up sailing activity. Scout leaders from the Bethlehem Scouts Commission and the Jerusalem Scouts Commission led participants through scouting activities in which they developed their knowledge and experience on scouts’ life through daily theoretical and practical activities.

During the day time, volunteers from the Palestinian Astronomical Society held astronomical workshops, teaching participants some astronomical theory while at night, they learned how to put together and take apart telescopes as well how to use them to track the moon, planets, stars and constellations. On August 7th, the view of the moon was perfect for tracking it and several constellations. On August 11th, there was a meteor shower. And on August 16th, participants watched a partial lunar eclipse until the morning hours of August 17th. There was one day in the program dedicated to hiking through three villages in Jerusalem destroyed and deserted in 1948: Lifta, Castal and Sataf. Participants learned about the history of these villages and experienced their geographies. They also walked through tunnels and springs in the area.

The program also included other day trips outside of the campsite to Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem, to the church of the Nativity and Shepherds’ Field in Bethlehem, to Suleiman’s Pools in Al-Kader and to the nearby village of Artas. The program also included a trip to PAIDIA International Development where participants used its rock climbing wall and participated in other recreational activities with the organizations employees and volunteers.

Health Sector

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Faisal Husseini Foundation in cooperation with the Friends of East Jerusalem Hospitals Committee has provided the medical machinery and equipment to the following hospitals:

Al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital: FHF has provided Blood bank refrigerator and cardiac defibrillator/ heart monitor in addition to a collection of toys and books for the pediatric ward which was decorated with wall art completed by the Faisal Husseini Youth Award volunteers. Augusta Victoria Hospital: Ten hospital beds and bedside tables are in the process of delivery. Princess Basma Center for disabled children: Covering the expenses of a training course for the staff and renovating the sewage system. St. Joseph’s French Hospital: Appropriate flooring in the operating room St. John’s Eye Hospital: Appropriate electrical extensions and electric equipment Red Crescent Society Hospital: Dishwasher for the hospital kitchen and an incubator for premature babies