458 Students of Primary School for Boys in Arroub Camp, West Bank, Palestine have now access to clean, cool drinking water
In May 2012, the Humanitarian Relief Society, a Palestinian NGO working in the West Bank, applied to LFT and its donors for water refrigerators for the camp’s boys’ school. Arroub camp is a refugee camp housing Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their home villages in 1948. At present, 1284 families live in the camp, a total of 9000 people. Conditions are extremely crowded with only 40 square meters per person. The average family comprises seven members. Job opportunities are scarce and the main income of most families is the food ration UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, distributes to needy families. UNRWA also runs two schools in the camp that provide primary and intermediate education. Due to constant shortage of funds, the schools can offer only the most basic facilities.
Education is the most important tool we can give to refugee children to empower them to build a better future for themselves, their families, their communities and generations to come. Research has shown that children learn better under conditions that insure at least minimum physical comfort. In the hot climate of Palestine, access to clean, cool drinking water is an absolute must, but unfortunately, students of the boys’ school in Arroub camp have so far been deprived of this amenity.
As the table below shows, the boys’ school teaches 458 students studying in grade one to four.
|
No |
Grade |
Sections |
No. of students |
|
1 |
First |
A,B,C |
102 |
|
2 |
Second |
A,B,C |
114 |
|
3 |
Third |
A,B,C |
114 |
|
4 |
Fourth |
A,B,C |
128 |
|
Total No. of Students |
458 |
||
Although the tap water in Arroub camp is too polluted to be fit for human consumption, school students were up to now forced to drink it or go thirsty.
With LFT’s generous donation, the Humanitarian Relief Society (HRS) purchased a water filter to make the water potable and six water refrigerators as well as taking care of plumbing and electrical appliances:
|
No. |
Item |
No. of Items |
Cost per item |
Full Cost |
|
1 |
Water filter |
1 |
160.00 |
160.00 |
|
2 |
Combined water refrigerator & heater |
6 |
320.00 |
1,920.00 |
|
3 |
Plumbing and electric installations |
lump sum |
280.00 |
|
|
4 |
Bibi Sakineh memorial plates |
6 |
16.00 |
96.00 |
|
5 |
Transportation |
lump sum |
120.00 |
|
|
Total Project Expenditure |
2,576.00 |
|||
The school building has three floors with four classrooms on each floor. Each floor was equipped with two water coolers so that all students have easy access to clean, cool drinking water. While drinking the water, the student’s eyes will be drawn to the memorial plates, and by reading them again and again, love for Bibi Sakineh will be planted into their young minds and hearts.
