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Home » Birzeit Girls’ School Shines in the EU-UNRWA Healthy, Living, Healthy Spaces Initiative

Birzeit Girls’ School Shines in the EU-UNRWA Healthy, Living, Healthy Spaces Initiative

18 December 2018

On 22 November, a line-up of excited and eager-faced students and their teachers alike greeted representatives from the UNRWA to share with them their student-led projects for the European Union (EU) and the UNRWA Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces initiative. The project - spread across 50 EU-sponsored UNRWA schools in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, and Lebanon - has amplified the ability of our students to act as agents of change for their school and greater community. The EU’s support to UNRWA this year was key to the Agency overcoming its worst financial crisis, enabling the continued education of 526,000 Palestine refugee students across the Middle East.

Birzeit Girls’ School used its Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces funding to create a flower garden with recycled tires, plastic bottles and pots for plant bases and decorations. The parents of students leading the charge were so motivated by efforts to improve the school that they made contribution from their own pockets to build on what the project had initiated. The final result of this joint effort is a beautiful new playground, fully equipped with slides, swings, and murals filled with colour and soul for students and staff to enjoy.

Fatefully, at the end of the school tour, it began to rain and the fresh shower watered the budding new garden and play space. This was a wonderful symbol of life and new beginnings for the community at Birzeit Girls’ School.

Wooden crates, recycled pots and tires house budding plants at the Birzeit Girls’ School new garden thanks to the EU-UNRWA Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces initiative. Students stand proudly in front of their new garden, showing off the fruits of their labour. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina SharifThe UNRWA Birzeit Girls’ School playground is situated next to the community cemetery. This further underlines the need to create a cheerful and safe environment for the students to enjoy and play. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina SharifThe new playground is fully equipped due to the generous support of the European Union and parents of Birzeit Girls’ School students, who also invested some of their own money to further improve the school for their children. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina SharifTwelve-year-old Lina Luay Zaq (grade 7) walks through the new playground at Birzeit Girls’ School. A new slide, swings, benches in the playground and surrounding murals substantially enhanced the school environment. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina Sharif Seventh-grader Abrar Mousa Dalalsheh (center, 12) addresses UNRWA West Bank staff and her peers, noting the techniques students used to adapt recycled material for their eco-friendly garden. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina SharifWafa Rifat Abdel Khaleq, an English teacher at Birzeit Girls’ School, explains how the improvements to the school environment - thanks to EU support and the parents of the students - have benefited staff and students alike: “Students can now sit and play in this park safely which helps in lowering their stress and renewing their energy levels.” © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina Sharif The EU-UNRWA Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces initiative teaches students that recycled goods can be up-cycled and used to make colorful crafts. During EU Fun Days, students in the West Bank had an opportunity to learn about recycling and waste-reduction for the benefit of their communities © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Marwan BaghdadiStudents from across the West Bank shared the environmentally-friendly projects they worked on throughout the year with Birzeit School principal, Fatmeh Mohammad Shanan (far right), their school counselor Rihan Ahmad Qaimari, and UNRWA West Bank education colleagues. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina Sharif West Bank UNRWA Chief of Education Programme Muaweyah Amar (center) was gifted a painting by students and Birzeit Girls’ School principal Fatmeh Mohammad Shanan for his support and encouragement of the initiative. © UNRWA Photo by Dina Sharif Birzeit Girls’ School new student-designed garden, part of the EU-UNRWA Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces project, received a fresh shower at the day’s end. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina SharifFifteeen-year-old Rand Saleh Tabakhna (grade 9) explains to school visitors that “the goal of this park is to create a good environment for the students, to make them feel like they have a safe space to play and have fun.” The EU-UNRWA Healthy Living, Healthy Spaces initiative has succeeded in its effort. © 2018 UNRWA Photo by Dina Sharif

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