8/6/2019 ANERA Camps Cool Hot Summer for Gaza Kids

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Camps Cool Hot Summer for Gaza Kids

When summer approaches in Gaza, it usually means more electricity outages and moreeconomic burdens. With school being out, children in particular struggle with the lack ofrecreational facilities. This summer, ANERA is making a special effort to make summer2011 different by providing fun and educational summer camps. As part of the Milk for

Preschoolers Program, ANERA has turned 30 Gaza preschools into summer camps thatprovide a recreational outlet for kids while also teaching about healthy living habits likehygiene and nutrition.

Inside Sanabil Preschool in Al-Nosairat, in the middle regionof Gaza, Samar Al-Moghari came to check on her son, Eyad,who attends the preschool year-round and recently enrolledin the summer camp. From a distance, Samar happilywatched her child play with other children.

This is his first time Eyad is participating in a summer

camp, and it makes me happy to see him learning abouthealth through activities with other children, said themother. I can see the difference it has had on him he

doesnt drink tea after meals anymore and asks for milk in the mornings. Eyad, only 5,keeps rehearsing the camps motto aloud in an effort to teach his parents about anemia. Weare the powerful children, with nutrition we grow. One...Twothreeanemia get out of mylife!

By bringing children together in a relaxed environment like a summer camp, youngsters likeEyad are having fun learning about health while also playing with friends.

In the schools hallway, children wearing their new ANERA t-shirts and caps scamperaround playing with balls, singing, and drawing. Laughter filled the space and smiles are onevery face. After posting one of the slogans on the wall, one of the camp attendees repeatedit with a smile on his face. Staying healthy is a precious gift well keep ourselves cleanwell live with proper nutrition.

8/6/2019 ANERA Camps Cool Hot Summer for Gaza Kids

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Standing next to a sink, Mohammed Thabet, one of thecamp counselors, taught 23 children how to brush theirteeth. One component of the camp included a play the

children performed about the importance of dentalhygiene.

Another group of children were participating in acreative activity to learn about the types of vegetablesand fruits. The camp counselor, Mawaheb Abu Shmise,incorporates arts and crafts by having the children cutand paste the different foods. Mawahed, teacher and mother of four, enjoys helping out inthe summer camp because she looks at it as opportunity to help children year-round.Although I have been working with children for seven years, this is my first timeparticipating in a summer camp, and I love it because it encourages the children to be morecreative as they learn.

About ANERA

For more than 40 years, ANERA has been a leading provider of development, health,education and employment programs to Palestinian communities and impoverished familiesthroughout the Middle East. In FY 2010, the relief and development agency delivered morethan $50 million of programs to the people of the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan.

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