BEIRUT: Friday is usually the beginning of the weekend for children at Beit Atfal Assumoud kindergarten in Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut.
But on this Friday, the pink and green rooms are packed with students wearing shiny crowns made from laminated candy wrappers and dressed for a holiday party beneath their blue school uniforms. The littlest ones are dancing with balloons; others are coloring in Christmas tree drawings. They are all waiting, with extraordinary patience for children of any age, to open presents.
The gifts – large building blocks for the 3-year-olds, play dough for the 4-year-olds and art kits for the 5-year-olds – were brought to the school by the Palestinian Children Initiative, a project that was started last year by five siblings.
“We had been talking about doing something for the kids in the camps for many years,” says Bana Bashour, one of the five.
“Last year was a bit of test run. We were surprised by people’s interest,” she adds, describing how the project began to take shape.
Each of the siblings contributed a donation and the rest of the funds were gathered through informal fundraising with friends and colleagues. Last year they raised about $8,000 and purchased toys for over 500 children in 21 kindergarten classes in Beit Atfal Assumoud centers, which are run by the National Institution of Social Care and Vocational Training in the country’s Palestinian refugee camps.
The contributions also went to buy outdoor toys for playgrounds.
This year, they aim to distribute 600 gifts, which were chosen based on recommendations from the center’s teachers, along with TV sets for each of the schools.
When it’s finally gift time, the children at Beit Atfal Assumoud in Shatila sit together – some cross-legged, some standing eagerly on their knees – and listen as each of their names is called. In the nursery class, the 3-year-olds seem uncertain of what to expect.
They look at each other for clues and sometimes need a bit of prompting to collect their gifts.
“C’mon Nour, come get your present,” one teacher says.
Some of them have a hard time balancing large boxes nearly half their size, as they return to their seats.
“Where’s the ‘thank you’?” a teacher asks.
After the names are called, all the children – except for the one little boy who couldn’t contain his excitement and has already opened his gift – tear at the wrapping paper.
Students in the higher grades received gifts last year and know what to expect.
“They’re here! They’re here!” they shout as the project volunteers come into their classroom. They perform a song for the volunteers and one student stands before the class, and says: “My name is Lulu and I’m in KG1. Welcome, we wait for you every year for a gift!”
Then their teacher asks, “Who wants presents?” and the process begins again.
Getting several hundred toys ready to give is a complex operation and the organizers began planning in the fall. This year, it took a team of some 10 volunteers two days, 10 rolls of tape, 600 sheets of wrapping paper and the same number of name tags to trim the gifts.
The organizers of the Palestinian Children Initiative hope to expand the program next year and eventually provide a gift for each kindergartener in every camp in Lebanon.
Yumon Fattahi, a 4-year-old, says she likes her gift “very much,” and would like next year’s gift to be Dora the Explorer, a character from the popular children’s program.
The 5-year-olds are also excited about their gifts, which they say they’ll share with their brothers and sisters at home. They also have some requests for next year’s presents.
“I want a teddy bear,” says one girl.
“I want a bicycle,” says one boy, whose request is quickly echoed by his classmates.
Khadijha Dirawi, Yumon’s mother, volunteers at the school and is happy to be part of the day’s excitement.
“It gives them a special feeling,” Dirawi says.
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