Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 23)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 23)
- المحتوى
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NI
Ghassan Kanafanl
Cultural Foundation
Expanding Child Care in Times of War
On March 19th, Democratic Palestine had the opportunity to inter-
view Anni Kanafani, wife of the martyred Palestinian writer and
political leader, Ghassan Kanafani. Anni is one of the founders of
the Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation, and serves as vice-
chairperson in charge of the kindergarten program. On the occasion
of the 17th commemoration of Ghassan’s July 1972 martyrdom, and
of the International Day of the Child, we print what she related to us
about the Foundation’s work in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon.
Tyre, we run a kindergarten for ap-
proximately 100 children. Our
kindergarten in Mar Elias camp in
Beirut has about 100 children, and in
North Lebanon, there is one in Badawi
camp with 100 children, and one in
Nahr AI Bared camp with 200.
NEW PROJECTS FOR
HANDICAPPED
In 1986, we opened a new section of
the Ain Al Hilweh kindergarten as a
project for mentally handicapped
children. We began with six children
and now we have 20. All the teachers
are trained. A Norwegian pre-school
teacher specialized in teaching han-
dicapped children came to work on this
project, and trained the other teachers.
In Lebanon, the ordinary kindergartens
are very much like school, whereas we
stress creative activities and play,
though we do begin teaching reading
and writing skills to the children of pre-
school level. The mentally handicapped
children, however, don’t go to regular
school, so we have now made a slow-
learner program for them. This pro-
gram also serves children who have
dropped out of the UNRWA schools.
In the UNRWA schools, a child can
repeat a class only once; if they fail
again, they drop out, so we are also
addressing the problem of these
children. We started the Ain Al Hilweh
project because we felt the importance
of offering something for the han-
dicapped children, as there were really
no programs for them. Since we
Democratic Palestine, June 89
started, another organization has also
started a project for handicapped
children in Tyre, so there is develop-
ment although it is gradual.
In the autumn of 1986, we began the
Mar Elias habilitation kindergarten for
physically handicapped children. We
have 10 children in this program,
mainly spastic children who are not
mentally handicapped in any way. Very
little has been done for these children
before; the ordinary schools in
Lebanon don’t take them, partly
because they are not equippedto doso,
but also due to the attitude of keeping
these children out of sight. This project
is in the same building as the Mar Elias
kinergarten, so it is a partially in-
tegrated program. The handicapped
children come on the bus in the morn-
ing with the other children and, of
course, they are all on the playground
together. Once a week, the handicapped
children go downstairs to join the other
children, and sometimes a group of the
other children come up to join the
handicapped ones. In the beginning, a
specialized Swedish pre-school teacher
directed the project, and she trained the
other teachers who have continued the
work. A_ Lebanese physiotherapist
works with the children two hours dai-
ly, and a consulting doctor visits the
children weekly.
Every Saturday, we take the children
on a trip in the center’s bus, either on a
picnic or to see a bakery, for example,
or other activities. This has more than
one purpose. The children get the
chance to be outside and see something
new. At the same time, the public
becomes accustomed to seeing han-
dicapped children. When people see
that someone is taking care of these
children, they get very interested, and
want to help. Many times they offer the
children something. This helps to in-
tegrate the children into their surroun-
dings. We have also been able to in-
tegrate one child from this project into
a regular kindergarten.
Of course, we need special equipment
for this center - special chairs and tables
which can accomodate wheelchairs. We
now have a small workshop producing
equipment for these children. Other
people have also begun to come to this
workshop, so we are making equipment
for children outside our own project as
well.
TEACHER TRAINING
CENTER
Our newest project is the
Kindergarten Resource and Training
Center in Beirut, for training early
childhcod teachers working in deprived
areas. The idea dates back to the
beginning of the 1980s. We were a small
group of professionals who started a
committee and worked out a proposal
for a two-year training program for
teachers and supervisors working in ex-
isting kindergartens. With the 1982
war, there was no way of doing
anything, but we continued the idea. In
1983, we developed close contact with a
teachers training school in Denmark
that was willing to help, but with the
Situation in Lebanon, there are no
guarantees. In 1985, we reestablished
the committee and began a small train-
ing project in Mar Elias, sponsored by
UNICEF. Finally in 1988, we opened
the KG Resource and Training Center
to offer a two-year training program
for 25 in-service pre-school teachers,
with Arabic as the language of instruc-
tion. This is important, because
although universities offer a B.A. in
early childhood education, it is usually
in English or French; in the summer,
there are short intensive courses in
Arabic, but this is limited and not ac-
cessible to all.
By setting up the KG Resource and
Training Center, we offer a more ex-
tensive course, and in Arabic, to
23 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 33
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- يونيو ١٩٨٩
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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