Palestine: Youth work and summer camp

Background

1.4 million people are living on 227 km² in the Gaza Strip, over one third of them in refugee camps on narrowest space. The total isolation of the area caused a dramatic worsening of the supply situation. Meanwhile over 80% of the people in the Gaza Strip are living below the poverty level, the range of food and products for the everyday life like pharmaceuticals and fuel can hardly be sustained.
The party most suffering of the violent conflict between the Israeli army and the armed Palestinian groups is the civil population. The internal state of security is precarious. Mostly affected by this situation are children and youths. The hardly have the possibility to move freely. The violent envi-ronment leads to stress and psychological problems.

Sportive and creative activities

YMCA Gaza is trying to absorb at least one part of this tension by offering children and youths a scope of development in creative and sportive activities. Several hundreds of children and youths are joining soccer, basketball or table tennis trainings on the area of the YMCA in Gaza City every week. They exercise in dancing groups, learn to play check, attend theatre lessons or simply meet with peers. During summer vacation over 500 people are attending a four-week camp on the premises of the YMCA. All activities are supervised by almost a hundred volunteer leaders aged between 16 and 25 years.

Education of leaders

The project remains totally in the hands of the socially engaged locals. YMCA sets a high value on the careful education of the voluntary youth leaders. A central role plays pedagogy which encourages the cooperation between the children and helps to solve conflicts in a constructive manner. The young leaders are also learning to reduce the stress of the children and stabilise their mental balance with specific playfully activities.