November 2013 Newsletter

 

Dear Friends,

Please forgive us for being so quiet over the past few months.  Rest assured that we have been working diligently behind the scenes to build more infrastructure of play, love, and community.

Take a look….

Lajee: “It’s like a piece of paradise” 

Mothers of two policital prisoners laid the first blocks to the new community play space

Still under construction. When completed, Lajee will be a landscaped community space with an outdoor amphitheater, several slides, various games, several climbing structures, sandboxes, meeting centers, a storage shed, and other features, such as a mural painted by the children of Aida.

Jeel Al Amal school gets a new sports court

Jeel el Amal court before basketball nets are installed.  Jeel el Amal is an orphanage for boys and a co-ed day school located in East Jerusalem

Beit Fajjar Community space and playground 

Sketch of community play space currently under construction in Beit Fajjar

Amphitheater in Beit Fajjar under construction

As our community garden and play space comes together at Aida Refugee Camp, families were overhead saying that “It’s like a piece of paradise”, and that’s even before the construction is completed!

Designs for the site were completed in August thanks to our friends at the Lajee Center and playground architect Sam Kornhauser, who has generously donated his time and expertise to PfP as we try to transform several sites throughout Palestine into nurturing places of play and community.

The community play space at Lajee is accessible

…You’re very welcome!

Children help with construction of the community play space in Beit Fajjar

In the next newsletter, we will bring  you images from the completed above community play gardens as well as images from additional sites currently under development, including Budrus, Tomorrow’s Youth Organization in Nablus, and Al Yasmin Society in el Bireh (see more below on this one)

El-Bireh Al Yasmin Society

PfP is moving forward with the construction of a community garden and playground in loving memory of Robert S. Mallouk, through the generosity of his family and friends.

To read more about Mr Mallouk and al Yasmin Society, click here

The Gift Of Olive Oil: Certified Organic, Palestinian, Fair Trade, Delicious, and ready to ship!

Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, here is your chance to buy olive oil straight from Palestine while giving to a great cause!

All olive oil sold by Playgrounds for Palestine is from Canaan Fair Trade. It is 100% USDA certified organic, grown using traditional farming methods, and cold pressed according to 2002 International Olive Oil Council.  The oil is sourced from 43 olive oil producing coops with 1,700 farmer members across the West Bank.

100% of olive oil profits go towards providing playgrounds for children living in Palestine and other conflict areas.  By selecting fair trade oil produced by Palestinian farmers, we are able to further support the Palestinian economy, Palestinian communities, and the children who live there.

Both types of Olive Oil come either in an elegant 500 mL bottle or a 1 L tin:

RUMI: Rumi olive oil has a robust, peppery and slightly bitter flavor. The word “Rumi” in Arabic means “Roman,” indicating that these trees have been around in Palestine since the Roman Empire.

NABALI: Nabali olive oil has a mild, fruity flavor compared to the Rumi Tree Olive Oil.

click here or on the image to order.
minimum order = 6 bottles or 1 tin.

 

 

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