Summer Camp

In mid summer, children of Housan gather in the AMAN Centre to join in Housan's summer camp.

The children from all around the village sit outside having arrived early, eager to begin their mornings. The Children here are vibrant with energy and creativity. They are quick to befriend you. The sincerity and hospitality that is so vivid in the people of Housan, is reflected powerfully in their children.



Those at the summer camp are typical of the Palestinian children, subject to living under unique conditions of military occupation. This situation has lent to widespread social-psychological illness, educational weakness, and behavioural problems. It is through the summer camp that the children of Housan secure social education in a number of areas, from personal hygiene, and the risks of smoking to anti-aggressive behaviour.


During the two weeks of the summer camp, an Israeli jeep patrolled the main street, just outside the centre. However not uncommon, such actions aid in heightening the fears those already traumatised. Some expressed their fears of walking home. The children during the camp are encouraged to freely channel such fears emotions creatively, through art and drama. Watching the children engaging in group activity and games, the concern and awareness of those around them becomes apparent.


A highlight of the camp is the visit to Housan's spring; fresh water pours the tank where the children jump into cooling off from the midday heat.

Housan

Housan is a small village, just West of Bethlehem in what is known as the West Bank, Palestine. It is a traditional farming village, known to its Israeli neighbours as Kfar Shalom, Village of Peace.

Like many other villages in Palestine Housan finds itself in a difficult situation. Israel's construction of the "Security Fence" in the West Bank is going to severely affect the village. The intended route of the Fence will literally encircle Housan and the neighbouring village of Bittir, cutting them off from the outside world. (The "Security Fence" usually takes the form of an 8 meter wall, presently in Housan it is an actual Fence. The villagers have no information regarding Israel's final plan for their village. The rationale for the construction of the "Security Fence" is unclear, the Israeli's claim "security reasons" while to many observers, the wall, which is built on Palestinian land and annexes 10% of the West Bank, is a strategic attempt by Israel to claim land.)

Villagers will require permission to leave the enclosed area, through a gate which will open for a few hours every day. The villagers are left without access to Hospitals, Universities, shops and other amenities which the rest of the world takes for granted, leaving them dependant on their own limited resources.



The aim of this blog is to give a voice to the people of the village.
It is not a political journal, but rather the story of a normal village, in an extraordinary situation.
It will be passed on to the people of the village so that they can continue to tell their story and their struggles long into the future.