The festival was organized in partnership with Ramallah municipality.

The children enjoyed the lunch under the olive trees and the walk in the nature.

Al Khadir school is one of the marginalized locations nearby Bethlehem. The wall seperates Al Khadir village and families from their farms. They can’t reach their land which is now lying in the area of Etzion settlement block

After the introduction the children were divided into small groups and shared the activities at the center, especially the library and games departments. At the library they read and discussed different stories and at the educational games department they enjoyed playing games that strength their memory and increase their concentration. Then they spent their time in the garden and on the playing ground.

Alrashayda is a Bedouin village that suffers very much from the occupation as the people are threatened to lose their land. Ghirass Center supports marginalized villages like Alrashayda and offers educational and psychological help.

Through the outreach program and reading campaign Ghirass Center also supports and cooperates with other marginalized locations that suffer from the occupation such as Khas/ Numan, Zakaria, Al Khadir and Battir.

Al Hara Theater performed a theater play which the children enjoyed very much. Moreover they learned about the center’s program and were divided in groups for activities at each Center’s department.

They did movement activities, read and discussed stories with the librarian and played educational games that strengthen their memory and increase their concentration.

After that they went to the art department where the children draw pictures about their feelings and emotions for life. In the end they spent time on the Center’s playing ground.

The children came from Alnoor kindergarten and the society kindergarten from Al Khadir and Tkoa school. These kindergartens and the school are part of the reading campaign and the teacher’s training about children with learning difficulties at Ghirass Cultural Center.

The child Hizar Alshami welcomed the audience. Afterwards the Hakaya band entered the hall. They held Palestinian flags and gathered on the stage while the musician Maher Derabani played a traditional song named “Samedon”.

After the Palestinian national anthem, the director of Ghirass Cultural Center welcomed the audience. She said that she admires the creativity of Palestinian children despite their hard challenges. She also pointed out that Ghirass Center welcomes every child, regardless of religion, politics, economical and social issues and without any conditions.

In the end of her speech she congratulated all Palestinian children for the Child Day and wished all a nice celebration.

Then the child Tabaruk Khlayel welcomed the audience and talked about how children suffer from the Israeli occupation. She mentioned few names of murdered children as Fares Oda, Mohammad Aldora, Moed Jwareesh and many other children who were killed by the Israeli army. But she also pointed out that despite of the children’s suffering, they will stand up and fight for their freedom and dignity.

The ceremony included many shows such as singing, dancing and Dabka and drum performance by Hakaya band under the supervision of Maher Derabani and Sama Ilzghayyer.

After the show, the director and the librarian of Ghirass Center distributed gifts to children who read books regularly and more than 50 books within the last weeks.

The ceremony ended with a performance of the artist Khalid Massou from Inad Theater.

In the end, the teacher Akram Abu Alia thanked the audience for their presence and wished all a joyful day.

The director of Ghirass Center, Ibtisam Ilzghayyer, welcomed them.

After spending time in the art gallery, they visited the center’s departments such as the computer lab, the library, the games and the art department.

Afterwards they went to the play ground where they spent the rest of their time playing.

In general, Ghirass Center concentrates in both, children and their families and particularly is working with children with learning difficulties.

For the opening of the exhibition several institutions, directors and teachers from schools and kindergartens came. The art teacher Akram Abu Alia welcomed the guests and pointed out that art and drawing are positive outlets for children. He mentioned that the gallery will also be shown in England this summer.

After that the director of Ghirass Center,  Ibtisam Ilzghayyer thanked all the guests and said that she is proud of the cooperation with several institutions, especially the cooperation with the German association GIZ.  GIZ country director Mr. Rogg appreciated in his speech the cooperation with Ghirass Cultural Center and thanked the whole team for its effort to support children and their families. The governor Mr. Hamayel made clear that the drawings of the Palestinian children express the suffering but also the creativity of the children. He also mentioned the daily Palestinian suffering due to the occupation. In the morning on 3^rd April in the west of Beit Jalla four houses and an Electricity Company was deconstructed.

The exhibition of children’s drawing is a yearly activity at Ghirass Cultural Center on the occasion of the Palestinian Child Day on 5^th April. Hundreds of children share this activity through their drawings under the supervision of the art teacher Akram Abu Alia and the volunteer Laila Ilzghayyer.

The ceremony included several interesting parts that amazed the whole audience like the Palestinian dabka. The Palestinian artist Khalid Massou from Inad Theater also read to the children many stories using the performance style.

It is worth to mention that Ghirass Center concentrates on these kinds of activities for schools and kindergartens that suffer from the occupation and the apartheid wall.

The Director of the Center, Ibtisam Ilzghayyer, concentrated on the enlightenment which comes from reading, and reading skills for pre-school children, between 0 to 6 years. She pointed out the importance of language in the development of mental processes.

Teachers were taught the importance of cooperation between families and kindergartens. The trainer demonstrated how to read to children in each stage. By working on these steps the teachers will discover early if the children have any learning difficulties.

This project is coordinated between the kindergarten department in the Ministry of Education and the Mother and Child Department in Bethlehem and Ghirass Cultural Center. The project was supported by COBIAC, an institution that also co-operates in the reading campaign for children.

Altogether 62 participants were trained from 60 kindergartens in Bethlehem.