WE Center Summer Camp

We are a group of 5 volunteers – Alba, Catalina, Lisa, Luísa and Rosa –, coming from different countries in Europe (Germany, Portugal and Spain), and we are doing the European Voluntary Service (EVS) with East&West Center for Human Resources Development (WE Center) in Jordan. We all come from different backgrounds but we have one thing in common: passion to work with children! Every year WE Center

*, with the help of its EVS volunteers, organises a Summer Camp for Palestinian children in Jerash Refugee Camp in Jordan. The Jerash Refugee Camp was set up in 1968 for the people who had to leave the Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and is now home to 24.000 Palestinian refugees. The major problems in this camp are poverty, overcrowding, a high unemployment and a high rate of shelters that are not suitable for accomodation because of structural problems. This year we organise a 6-day Summer Camp for 30 children from 6-10 years old under the subject of “Recycling the Future!”. Through different activities such as recycling workshops to create music instruments, handicrafts and toys and workshops about rubbish and water we want to raise the children's awareness for the importance to care for the environment in a fun way. Furthermore throughout the whole week we want to familiarize the children with the idea to seperate the rubbish and will have several activities to clean the outside spaces of Jerash Refugee Camp. Part of the Summer Camp will also be a field trip to an organic farm near Jerash where the children will learn about organic farming, composting and the re-use of water. Less than 5% of Jordan’s solid waste is recycled, posing a huge problem for future generations, that’s why it is important to raise awareness within the community and especially educating young children about the environment. Therefore, environmental education with the use of games and leisure activities is a fun way to raise children’s attention for the importance to care for the environment. Do you want to get more involved? As we are using recycled materials for the activities we will need cans and tetabricks. So, if you pass by Amman and you want to give away some of these, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. If you are interested about the past Summer Camp, here is an article the Jordan Times about last year's Summer Camp: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/volunteers-bring-smiles-children’s-faces-gaza-refugee-camp


* East and West Center for Human for Human Resources Development (WE Centre), based in Amman, Jordan, is a non-governmental, nonprofit organisation that aims to build institutional and individual capacity and push for positive change in the local communities in cooperation with the grass roots