Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 18)
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- Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 18)
- المحتوى
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and revolution. There is also a program
for teaching basic concepts: numbers,
colors, names of animals, etc., as well as
drawing, cut and paste, etc.
In the summer, much time is spent
outdoors in the courtyard of the nursery.
The importance of this can only be
understood in contrast with the general
camp environment. In all of Yarmouk
camp, there is no playground except for
a few schoolyards, but these are not
suited to smaller children, For most, the
playground is narrow streets which are
often filled with dust, mud and garbage.
As a result, many parents keep their
younger children inside. For them, the
nursery courtyard, with its little garden,
small though it may be, is the only
chance for outdoor play in safe and heal-
thy surroundings.
Later in the morning session, the
children who need to sleep take a nap.
Then all gather to eat the lunch they
bring from home, which can be warmed
at the nursery kitchen. Throughout the
day the staff works to instill social
behaviour and develop the children’s
independence. It is a rule that the chil-
dren are not hit for misbehaviour. Rather
the staff seeks to discuss the problem
with the child and guide him or her to
alternate behaviour.
Most children return home at 2 or 3
p.m. However, the nursery is open until 6
p.m. to accomodate children whose
mothers work in the afternoon, or want to
attend a political meeting or other politi-
cal activity.
Staff commitment-
key to. success
While many Palestinians are edu-
cated to be teachers, few are trained
specifically for early childcare. For this
reason, the Women Bureau was unable
18
to assemble a professional staff. Rather
women were chosen on the basis of
interest in the project. Thus the staff
members’ commitment plays an impor-
tant role as does on-the-job training. The
nursery is attached to the PLO’s Educa-
tion Committee which plans for all Pales-
tinian kindergartens and nurseries. As of
now all staff members have participated
in at least one PLO-sponsored training
course. One has attended a month-long
session arranged jointly with UNICEF,
while the director of the nursery has lec-
tured at some of the training sessions.
Limited resources mean that a
great deal of work and commitment are
demanded of the staff, which is com-
posed of nine women who must attend
to cleaning and practical matters as well
as childcare. The criiu-veacher ratio is
good by local standards, but does not
allow the staff to do as many creative
and developmental activities as they
might like, for with small children, physi-
cal care alone is time-consuming.
The staff hold weekly meetings to
sort out problems and discuss ways of
improving the nursery. These have
proved to be a form of on-the-job training
and a process of learning to give and
take constructive criticism in order to
improve each teacher's work.
The nursery is regularly visited by a
doctor in order to spot any health prob-
lems among the children. In the case of
sickness, the staff has responsibility for
taking the child to the doctor directly.
A high priority is contact with the
parents. Besides daily conversations
when the children arrive or return home,
there are monthly meetings between the
staff and the parents. These aim to
acquaint the parents with the functioning
of the nursery and also with the political
line and work of the PFLP. Parents are
encouraged to ask questions and air
problems, so much time is devoted to
finding collectively acceptable solutions
for problems that arise.
The staff has also made it a goal to
visit the homes of the children in order to
better know the specific situation of
each, but the demands of work at the
nursery itself have left little time for this.
There is also a wish to eventually make
the nursery into a kind of children’s
center in the afternoon, for example by
staging puppet shows with political
themes which would interest the older
brothers and sisters of the nursery chil-
dren. However, this is as yet not done,
again due to the demands of the daily
work.
At the nursery
A visit to the nursery shows five
rooms, filled with children, and walls
brightly decorated with painted flowers
and animals. The children are divided
into four groups according to age. Two of
the rooms are filled with the cribs of the
youngest. Another two are equipped
with pallets which are taken up to make
room for activities. The ceiling of the
central room has been lowered with red-
and-white silk in parachute shape, to
make it more cozy and colorful; here the
children eat and play. The general
impression is one of happy children with
relations of liking and trust to the adults.
At the same time one sees that the nur-
sery is quite crowded and that toys and
other materials are not abundant.
Talking with the staff members, one
learns that these limitations are due to
shortage of funds. The parents pay 100-
150 Syrian pounds per moni depend-
ing on the length of time their child stays
at the nursery, but this does not cover all
the expenses. At the same time, the
Womens Bureau feels it is impossible to
raise the fee as this would take too great
a cut from parents’ salaries and make it
less worthwhile for women to work. Thus
it is the staff's commitment which makes
the nursery go round despite insufficien-
cies; expenses are reduced by the fact
that the staff itself makes most of the
toys and decorations tor ine nursery.
The success and improvement of the
nursery also depends on aid from
friends who are interested in this project
and wish to support its aims of allowing
more women to work, while providing
good collective childcare.
The Womens Bureau has recently published a
brochure with pictures and text about the nursery’s
function and activities. If you would like to receive a
sample, please write to:
Nursery of the Martyr, Shadia Abu Ghasala
Box 12144 Damascus, Syria - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 11
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