The Capital Campaign

Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten

About the Campaign


Help Palestinian refugee children get a solid start in life. 


The Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten is a child-focused and inclusive early education school in the UN-run Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank. The experience of learning it provides is in high demand by local families.  Our goals this year are to add one new classroom and to increase enrollments to serve more children. Join us in changing the lives of young learners in Palestine.




Building on Success

Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten opened in 2021 and serves Palestinian refugee families. The Lajee Center, a local community service organization, with support from 1for3.org and international volunteers, operates the school. It now has 50  four and five-year-old students in two classrooms. In only two years our team has hired and trained a director and five teachers, increased family involvement through regular communications, events and workshops, and built a strong learning community integrated with other programs at the Lajee Center.  




Global+Local

Year-round partnerships with international educators and consultants support teachers' work to develop their professional practice, designing an inclusive, play-based curriculum that is culturally relevant. With a growing waiting list, we want to increase the number of children served by building a third classroom.




Where Children Can Be Children 

The Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten meets a critical need for early-childhood education. Like all parents, Palestinian parents want a safe, nurturing environment in which their young children can grow and thrive. Research has shown that quality programs such as this create important opportunities for supporting children's social, emotional and intellectual growth, and often have a life-long impact. 




Children Under Occupation

Refugee children already suffer from the continuing trauma of Israeli military occupation, economic insecurity, and cramped living conditions. The Zahrat Al-Yasmeen Kindergarten with its innovative and creative curriculum offers a place where children can be children. They can play, explore, express themselves, and learn with their peers. This gives them a strong foundation for future development and a respite from the harshness of living under military occupation.




Building Another Classroom

The success of Zahrat Al-Yasmeen is evident in its growing waitlist. Our goal this year is to break ground and build a third classroom that matches the standards we’ve already set. Boston-based architect Hubert Murray has provided plans for the expansion and will employ skilled craftspeople from the camp on the construction, just as we did for the first two classrooms. This plan is not only cost-efficient, but also targets a pool of skilled workers who suffer disproportionately from high unemployment, building community around the school. 




High Quality Education

Parents, visiting teachers and ministry officials have all remarked with enthusiasm at the simple design and high quality of the environment in the first two classrooms. We intend to maintain these high standards in the third one.

                    



About 1for3

Working with partners in the West Bank for ten years, 1for3.org, a section 501(c)(3) registered non-profit in Massachusetts, has identified four dominat challenges in the everyday lives of Palestinian refugees: Water, Food, Health, and Education. Funding for operations comes from individuals, foundations, and family giving. 




Help Children Be Children.

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